FEDERAL MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND REVENUE, MIFTAH ISMAIL ALONG WITH FEDERAL MINISTER FOR INFORMATION & BROADCASTING, MARRIYUM AURANGZEB BRIEFING MEDIA ON ECONOMIC OVERVIEW IN ISLAMABAD ON JULY 16, 2022.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail Saturday claimed that Pakistan Tehreek-e- Insaaf (PTI) government added Rs. 19,413 billion to the total national debt, an increase of 78 percent during its 4 years.
Addressing a press conference along with Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb in Islamabad, the finance minister said that the national debt was increased from Rs. 24,953 billion to Rs. 44,366 billion in just 4 years.
Further informing the media, he said that the total debt and obligations increased by 79 percent from Rs. 29,879 billion to 53,544 billion in PTI’s tenure, growing by Rs. 23,665 billion. On average, the budget deficit also increased drastically during the 4-year tenure of PTI, increasing from Rs. 1,664 billion to Rs. 3,408 billion.
In addition, the Imran Khan-led government also reduced the development budget from Rs. 900 billion to only Rs. 500 billion, the minister said.
Ismail congratulated the public saying that the current government’s efforts had paid off and the country had been saved from a default.
Criticizing the previous government, the finance minister said that Imran Khan announced a subsidy on petrol which caused a loss of Rs. 120 billion to the national exchequer on a monthly basis. In addition, the previous government criminalized and politicized long-term liquefied natural gas (LNG) contracts made during the tenure of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) which caused disruption of gas supply in the country, shutting down many industries. He pointed out that it was the first time in history that Pakistan experienced load shedding of gas.
Defending previous policies of the PMLN government under Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, the finance minister said that the loans taken by the previous government were used to improve infrastructure and increase electricity production. He questioned where Imran Khan had spent Rs. 20,000 billion.
Commenting on the recent load shedding crisis, the minister said that when PMLN came into power over 7,500 MW of electricity was not being produced due to negligence of authorities overseeing power plants. “The PTI government did not add a single megawatt to the power grid,” he added.
The finance minister went on to point out that despite PTI’s claims of a great increase in revenue collection, the tax to GDP ratio had fallen from 11.1 percent in PMLN’s tenure to just 9.1 percent during PTI’s tenure.
He assured the public that the government was trying its best to stabilize the economy to provide maximum relief to the public.