Imran rejects budget as anti-people

Former PM says budget based on ‘unrealistic assumptions’ on inflation and economic growth

ISLAMABAD:

PTI Chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Friday rejected the budget for the new fiscal year, terming it "anti-people" and "anti-business".

The budget is based on "unrealistic assumptions" on inflation and economic growth, he said in a series of tweets.

Imran went on to say that weekly inflation, as measured by the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), came in at about 24pc.

"[This] indicates that inflation will be between 25-30pc, which on the one hand will destroy the common man, and on the other hand, retard economic growth due to high interest rates."

All tax reforms and pro-poor programmes introduced during the PTI government had been shelved, he lamented. "It is an unimaginative, purana (old) Pakistan budget creating more burdens and misery for the nation."

PTI Secretary-General Asad Umar said the inflation will whizz skywards as it has already witnessed an increase of 24% as compared to the last year. “This [24% spike] is prior to the budget, where will it hit after the budget?” he wondered.

He added that the corrupt leaders have nothing to provide relief to the nation.

Read: ‘Ill-planned’ budget will unleash new wave of inflation: PTI

Shibli Faraz, ex-science minister belonging to PTI, said the “handicapped” parliament had no legal or moral grounds to present the country’s budget as they have wreaked havoc on the economy merely within two months of their assuming power.

“We reject this budget. The government is a burden on the masses,” he said, reiterating the PTI’s demand that the only solution to redress the prevailing economic woes is to take the country to early elections.

‘IMF conditions, not budget’

PTI information secretary Farrukh Habib laced in the “imported government” for capitulating to the harsh conditions set by the IMF, saying the ruling coalition had in fact rolled out the IMF’s conditions before the nation, instead of the budget. “The PTI rejects this anti-people budget,” he declared in a statement.

He feared that the budget for 2022-23, which starts on July 1, will bring a new unleash a fresh storm of inflation.

The PTI leader said that this budget will increase the country’s debt while the common man will not get any relief from it.

This, he added, was in striking contrast to what the Imran Khan-led government had done for the people of Pakistan, citing the PTI government’s Kamyab Jawan Programme and Ehsaas Programme.

“During the PTI era, Rs260 billion was provided to the deserving people under the Ehsaas program.”

Read more: Govt unveils Rs9.5 trillion federal budget for 2022-23

Doubling down on the claims that Imran Khan was ousted through a “conspiracy”, the spokesperson for PTI chairman Imran Khan said that the purpose of regime change was to pardon corruption cases against the then opposition parties – now an assemblage of ruling parties – and grant NROs.

“Economic survey report reflects PTI's best economic performance,” he claimed and added that the incumbent government’s performance in terms of handling the deteriorating economic situation is so bad that defeating Imran has now become an “impossibility”.

Farrukh Habib said that had Imran Khan been allowed to continue as a prime minister, he would have imported cheaper oil from Russia, owing to which the country would not have to reel under expensive fuel.

Meanwhile, in a video statement, PTI leader Hammad Azhar warned that in the wake of the budget, the inflation will increase by 2%-3% in the country while the gross domestic product (GDP) will drop from 6% to 2%-3%.

Azhar, who is a former finance and energy minister, said the country’s economy was experiencing intense instability”, expressing apprehensions that the country now teetered on the edge of default.

“In the budget, we did not see the direction that we needed to take the country out of the economic crisis and clear the uncertainty that the incumbent government has created,” he said.

PTI Senator Ejaz Chaudhry alleged that the government has presented a “people’s enemy” budget and the nation would deal with the rulers themselves.

Shehzad Waseem, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, lashed out at the ruling coalition and said there was “nothing in this budget but misery for the people”. It is a sign of indifference, he added.