‘PTI has pushed nearly 18m below poverty line’

PML-N issues white paper on govt’s ‘flawed economic policies’

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Tuesday issued a white paper on the “flawed economic policies” of the PTI government, maintaining that its 16-month tenure had been the worst period for the country in its 72-year history.

“The IK [Prime Minister Imran Khan] government increased Pakistan’s debt and liabilities by the highest amount in a single fiscal year in the country’s history: Rs10,335 billion,” read the paper released at the PML-N’s economic conference titled “Rescue Economy 2018-19” held in Islamabad.

سلیکٹڈ حکومت کی ناقص پالیسیوں پر مسلم لیگ ن نے "وائٹ پیپر" جاری کردیا pic.twitter.com/lrj4TaeX8f

— PMLN (@pmln_org) December 17, 2019

“The tsunami of debt taken by the IK government in one year is equal to Rs10,600 debt taken by the PML-N government in five years 2013-18,” it read.

The party further claimed that PTI government’s economic policy blunders hurt the country’s poor, farmers, industrialists, traders and businessmen alike.

“Pakistan’s GDP at the completion of the PML-N’s government’s tenure in 2017-18 was $315 billion. The country’s GDP at the completion of the IK government’s first year is $275 billion, a colossal loss of $40 billion in one year.”

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The opposition party maintained that the PTI government had “slayed” the country’s poor with relentlessly with inflation. “The CPI inflation soared to 12.7% in November 2019 from 3.9% in June 2018,” the report read.

The lethal combination of high inflation with low growth has massively contributed to the nightmare of the masses. This has resulted in pushing more than eight million Pakistanis below the poverty line within 16 months. According to independent economists, 10 million more people will be pushed below the poverty line before the end of the PTI government’s second year. So within two years of the PTI government’s tenure, 18 million people would have gone below the poverty line.”

The PML-N added that according to these figures, the national poverty ratio would be from 31.3% in June 2018 to 40% in June 2020.

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“This is unprecedented in our history and reflects the massive suffering of the masses under the PTI government.”

With the help of graphs, the party noted that the agricultural growth rate of the country had plunged to 0.8% under the PTI government in comparison with 3.8% achieved in the last year of the PML-N government.

“Large scale manufacturing shrunk to -3.5% under the IK government compared to 5.8% growth achieved in the last year of the PML-N government.”

The party also pointed out that despite a massive devaluation of the rupee exports decreased to -1.3% under the PTI government whereas a growth of 12.8% was achieved in the last year of the PML-N government.