LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan on Sunday lambasted the “imported government” for increasing the prices of petroleum products by a whopping Rs35 and currency devaluation, saying the corrupt rulers continue “financial massacre of the masses.”
Taking to his Twitter handle, the former prime minister said that the latest hike in fuel prices coupled with devaluation of rupee “has crushed the masses in general and salaried class in particular”.
Total mismanagement of our economy by a corrupt & incompetent imported govt has crushed masses & salaried class with latest hike in petrol & diesel prices & Rs33/$ devaluation to Rs262.6/$. Elec & gas price hike & 35% unprecedented inflation expected with Rs200bn mini budget.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) January 29, 2023
“Total mismanagement of our economy by a corrupt and incompetent imported government has crushed masses and salaried class with [the] latest hike in petrol and diesel prices,” read the tweet.
The PTI chief added that 35% unprecedented inflation is expected with a Rs200 billion mini-budget.
The criticism by the ousted premier comes just hours after Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced an increase in petrol and diesel prices by Rs35 per litre.
The minister made the announcement in a brief televised address to the nation today and maintained that Kerosene oil and light diesel oil prices were jacked up by Rs18 per litre.
Moreover, as the government ended its control over the rupee-dollar exchange rate in order to revive the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme, the Pakistani currency took a downward streak.
The country is seeking the revival of the stalled IMF programme of $6.5 billion to avert the looming high risk of default on international payments.
The SBP had said in its latest weekly update that the foreign exchange reserves had further depleted by $923 million – barely enough for two to three weeks’ import requirement.
Besides, Pakistan is scheduled to repay foreign debt worth $7 billion in the last five months (Feb-Jun) of the current fiscal year 2023. It will repay another $74 billion in the next three years – the fiscal year 2024 to the fiscal year 2026.
The revival of the IMF programme will help the government raise a new debt of around $3 to 4 billion over the next couple of months from multilateral and bilateral creditors, including the IMF, World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
