Karachi gang war: Imran fears economic meltdown
PTI says inaction exposes govt incompetence.
KARACHI/LAHORE:
The continued economic slide, coupled with the breakdown of law and order in Karachi, would lead to an economic collapse, a handout quoted chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Imran Khan as saying on Saturday.
According to him, the national economy “is in a state of stagflation with little or no economic growth and high inflation”. The PTI chief said that electricity shortfall in Faisalabad alone resulted in massive unemployment. “If the current chaos and gang warfare is not controlled in Karachi…Pakistan faces imminent economic collapse…Loans amounting to Rs5 trillion, which were acquired over the past 60 years, have doubled to Rs10 trillion since the government came to power. How can a country with 80 per cent of the population on the fringe of extreme poverty repay the loans borrowed by our corrupt leaders through indirect taxes? There is a limit to taxing the poor through indirect taxation.”
Imran Khan said the sooner “this government is removed from power, the greater the chances of Pakistan’s recovery”.
Meanwhile, PTI’s Information Secretary Omar Sarfraz Cheema condemned the latest spate of bloodshed in Karachi.
A handout quoted Cheema as saying that the situation effectively exposed the government’s incompetence and its lack of will to deal with the Karachi situation.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2011.
The continued economic slide, coupled with the breakdown of law and order in Karachi, would lead to an economic collapse, a handout quoted chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf Imran Khan as saying on Saturday.
According to him, the national economy “is in a state of stagflation with little or no economic growth and high inflation”. The PTI chief said that electricity shortfall in Faisalabad alone resulted in massive unemployment. “If the current chaos and gang warfare is not controlled in Karachi…Pakistan faces imminent economic collapse…Loans amounting to Rs5 trillion, which were acquired over the past 60 years, have doubled to Rs10 trillion since the government came to power. How can a country with 80 per cent of the population on the fringe of extreme poverty repay the loans borrowed by our corrupt leaders through indirect taxes? There is a limit to taxing the poor through indirect taxation.”
Imran Khan said the sooner “this government is removed from power, the greater the chances of Pakistan’s recovery”.
Meanwhile, PTI’s Information Secretary Omar Sarfraz Cheema condemned the latest spate of bloodshed in Karachi.
A handout quoted Cheema as saying that the situation effectively exposed the government’s incompetence and its lack of will to deal with the Karachi situation.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 21st, 2011.