| Welcome to Global Village Space

Monday, March 18, 2024

Former govt borrowed $44 billion but failed to stabilize economy

News Desk |

Chairman Coordination of FPCCI Malik Sohail Hussain on Saturday said PML-N government borrowed over 44 billion rupees during its tenure which is a record. Despite borrowing at such a massive scale, standard of living of masses or economy could not be improved, he said. Now, the country is at the brink of bankruptcy as it was in 2013 when the PML-N came to power, he added.

Malik Sohail Hussain said that the former government continued to beat the drums of success but the forex reserves continue to fall necessitating another bailout package on harsh conditions. The former government increased debt by over fifty percent while it weakened the local currency by almost ten percent increasing debt and putting additional pressure on the masses, he said.

The business leader said that energy imports reached almost 60 percent of the exports but the government failed to end load shedding or settle circular debt which reached to new heights during its tenure. Mismanagement in LNG deal inflicted heavy losses on exchequer and paved way for gas sector circular debt for the first time in the history of the country.

The former PM and other government functionaries repeatedly claimed to have added over 11000 megawatts in the national grid but there is no place in the country which is immune from Loadshedding in the sizzling heat of June, he observed. He said that the government failed to fulfill promises like tackling unemployment, poverty, corruption, and profiteering.

Read more: Can an increase in remittances boost Pakistan’s economy?

The PML-N also failed to introduce reforms in sectors like health, education, taxation, and provision of justice. Good governance, selling bleeding public sector entities, provincial harmony, reduction in debt, industrialization and developing agriculture remained a far cry.

In stark contrast to these revelations, the former Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and later Miftah Ismail made huge claims on the outstanding performance of PML-N. According to them, the per-capita income of the common Pakistanis increased while the FDI and foreign reserves also showed record growth. However, the current stats provide a different picture.