PTI rejects Economic Survey as 'IMF script'

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Monday blasted the government's Economic Survey, accusing it of misrepresenting indicators and delivering a budget shaped entirely by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub, PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram and PTI MNA Mubeen Arif Jutt held a joint press conference at Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House.

Citing media reports, the opposition leaders claimed that the number of people living below the poverty line has surged to 45 per cent, up from 35 per cent, with approximately 30 million people now classified as impoverished.

"This entire budget has been handed down by the IMF … this Economic Survey is basically a Form 47 document," Omar Ayub alleged, referring to the controversial election form and manipulated figures in the February 8 general elections.

"Pakistan's purchasing power has collapsed. In 2022, someone earning Rs50,000 now effectively earns Rs22,000."

Ayub further claimed that wheat prices have risen by 50 per cent over the last three years, citing comparisons from the Bureau of Statistics' two-year datasets. "Poverty has reached 44.7 per cent. Planning budget worth 80 per cent remained unutilised and lapsed."

"And we need to ask: Has the number of four-legged donkeys increased or the two-legged ones?"

Addressing the media, Sheikh Waqas Akram lambasted the government's performance.

He said the poor have been rattled to their bones, adding that reports reveal that the poverty has jumped from 35 to 45 per cent. "There was no earthquake or natural disaster in these three years that could explain the collapse in agriculture, and yet it has tanked."

He noted that 37 per cent of the population is linked to agriculture, and "their backs have been broken".

Waqas also recalled a moment from an NFC meeting, where Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's provincial finance minister reportedly asked how electricity growth was being calculated. "The reply? They are counting electricity generated from solar panels installed on people's rooftops over which the government has no control."

"Inflation hasn't eased. For the first time, 30 per cent of livestock remained unsold during Eid. In the last three years, three million people have left the country. When we left government, the debt stood at Rs43,500 billion. Since then, another Rs31,500 billion has been borrowed."

"This budget is not the government's … it is dictated by the IMF. This Economic Survey is Form 47, not reality."

PTI MNA Mubeen Arif Jutt, also speaking at the presser, referred to the comment by the finance minister suggesting that the policy rate should be halved. "If the government is serious about revival, it must take responsibility instead of relying on window dressing," he said.