Minister decries Rs2.78tr fiscal deficit

Sharif had little concern about the welfare of the masses, Chaudhry says

Information Minister Fawad Hussain Chaudhry yesterday painted a bleak picture of Pakistan’s economy, saying the current woes were created by the successive governments of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

While taking part in the ‘mini budget’ debate in the National Assembly, Chaudhry said the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf had been in government for hardly a month but “I can challenge [anyone to prove me wrong when I say] that this one month’s performance is better than the PML-N government’s one-year performance.”

Quoting from the US economist John Perkins’ bestselling book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, he said the PML-N government did exactly to the country what East India Company did to India in the Mughal Era during the early part of the 17th century, that is, the economic colonisation of India.

Sharif and his men were little concerned about the welfare of the masses and didn’t take any step to strengthen economy of the country, Chaudhry said.

“PML-N’s Aristotles and veterans of economy made sure that our children and their children’s children were caught in vicious circle of loans,” Fawad said, revealing to the House some disturbing figures related to economy.

Pakistan’s fiscal deficit he said stood at 7.2 per cent that means gap between expenses and earnings is about Rs2.78 trillion (Dh82 billion).

Rise in public debt

The so-called experienced economists of PML-N government, he said, did nothing to lower the fiscal deficit, which rose five times consecutively during five years of its rule.

Similarly, he said, there was a steady rise in the public debt during the governments of the PML-N and PPP, as it rose from Rs6 trillion to Rs13 trillion in 2013, while now in 2018 it stood at Rs21 trillion.

The minister quoted Perkins’ famous lines to “expose” the financial mismanagement of the previous two governments.

“We are being exploited by the economic engine that creates an insatiable appetite for the world’s resources, and results in systems that foster slavery, we will no longer tolerate it. We will reassess our role in a world where a few swim in riches and the majority drown in poverty, pollution, and violence.”