The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has painted a bleak picture of the economy as it released a white paper on the economic situation of the country, blaming the PML-N-led coalition government of pushing the economy into a tailspin.
The white paper, which was unveiled on Tuesday at a ceremony in Lahore, said inflation had increased by 45 per cent during the last eight months under the coalition government.
Skyrocketing inflation and flawed policies of the PDM government have made life miserable for the masses, it said.
The opposition party in the document said all economic indicators including exports, remittances, foreign direct investment and others have deteriorated since the coalition government came into power in April last year.
Due to the shortage of dollars and depreciation of the rupee, hundreds of workers have been rendered unemployed as industrial units were forced to shut down their production plants, it added.
Moreover, it said the agricultural sector also suffered due to “unwise actions of the government”.
The PTI further said that Pakistan has to pay back $127 billion dollars in external debt, of which the largest loan was from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and 37 per cent of Pakistan’s total GDP would be spent on servicing this debt.
The white paper said poverty, unemployment and inflation are bound to increase further whether the government accepts IMF’s tough conditionalities or push the country towards default by refusing to revive the global lender’s bailout package.
The former ruling party is highly critical of the economic performance of its rivals, the parties in the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), accusing them of derailing the country ever since it was ousted from power in April last year.
The party has continuously lashed out at the ruling alliance for making the wrong economic decisions while asserting that it had worked hard to steer the country towards economic stability and growth.
While political tensions continued between the two camps, the decision to bring forth economic suggestions appeared to be a move aimed at bringing forth stability amidst a threatening economic atmosphere.
