Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday that Pakistan may now take minimum loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and vowed that those who have brought to pass the present economic crisis will not be given 'any NRO [national reconciliation ordinance]', come what may.
In his televised address to the nation, the Prime Minister said that two political parties - Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League (N) who ruled the country during the last 10 years - heavily indebted the country and the present government was compelled to borrow to repay the instalments of previous loans. The government is taking loans to repay instalments of loans taken by the previous governments as there was fear that country might face default.
The Prime Minister said the government started making efforts to take help from friendly countries and eventually the efforts succeeded and Pakistan secured 'a very good package' from Saudi Arabia. He said the package has reduced the financial pressure and he is optimistic that people would not be as much burdened as they would have been in case Pakistan has to borrow a huge amount from the IMF due to subsequent conditionalities of the Fund.
The Prime Minister said that there was pressure to take a bailout package directly from the IMF and this would have resulted in greater burden on the people in the form of inflation. "Now I hope if Pakistan takes loans from the IMF, it will not be huge and there would be fewer burdens on people."
The Prime Minister said that there would be more pieces of good news in the coming days as the government is also negotiating with two other friendly countries and expects similar packages from them. "If, we get package from them, there would not be a heavy burden on the people especially the salaried class," he said. He said he would make sure that people face minimum burden.
The Prime Minister came down hard on the two main opposition parties and stated that Pakistan's total debt was increased by them from Rs 6 trillion to Rs 30 trillion during the last ten years. He said that Pakistan's total debt in 1971 was Rs 30 billion and in 2008 it increased to Rs 6 trillion while during the last ten years it increased from Rs 6 trillion to Rs 30 trillion.
While circular debt, which was Rs 230 billion in 2009, increased to Rs 430 billion in 2013 and now it is Rs 1.2 trillion. On top of that, he said that previous government has also utilised Rs 40 billion from Workers Welfare Fund. The Prime Minister said that PML-N Punjab government left behind a Rs 1,200 billion debt and signed Rs 57 billion vouchers (cheques), which could not be cashed because there was no money in the treasury of the provincial government.
The Prime Minister said these two parties are now making statements that the government has failed and all parties are getting together. He said that these two politics parties heavily indebted the country and are now 'shamelessly' accusing the two-moth-old government of harming the country.
The previous government has also utilised even Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) workers' money. These people have done great harm to the country and now they are making statements of saving the government. "So far we are trying to deal with the burden inherited by the present government," said the Prime Minister while maintaining that the opposition parties are getting united only because they know the harm they have done to the country. The opposition parties are pressuring the government because audit of Rs 30 trillion will expose their corruption, claimed the Prime Minister.
They are trying to hide their corruption and there is only one effort to get an 'NRO'. He said that he wants to give them message that if they want to take to the streets, the government will provide them containers, but "no one will get NRO."
He said that he will not forgive any corrupt person. "I have promised to the nation that I will put the corrupt people behind the bars." He said that money was laundered and now thousands of millions rupees transactions are being traced in accounts of taxi drivers and vendors. This country will not have any future if no action is taken against the corrupt. The country is indebted because of money laundering as billions of rupees are being recovered from the poor people's accounts, he said.
The Prime minister said that accountability will be done because corruption increases the debt and burden the people in the form of inflation and the government will break that vicious cycle. "We have started to carry out the audit of loss-making entities to find out the reasons behind their losses." The Prime Minister said that nation pays the price when it tolerates corrupt people.
The Prime Minister said that corruption has started declining in Pakistan as per the World Economic Forum. He said that the government is taking action against money laundering, trying to help exporters increase the country's exports and putting in place all steps including one-window operations to attract investors and providing easy ways. The Prime Minister said that Saudi Arabia has agreed to reduce the visa fee for Pakistani labourers.
The Prime Minister said that housing is the biggest imitative of the government that would increase the industrial growth because 40 industries are linked with it and the project will create employment opportunities.
He said that a special package will be announced in the coming days for low-income group. He urged the nation to understand that there will be a short period of difficulty and once the menace of corruption is dealt with, the Pakistan will move towards prosperity. Pakistan is blessed with immense resources, he said adding that overseas Pakistan are ready to make investments in Pakistan and are waiting only for a conducive environment. He said that time will come when Pakistan will be in a position to lend money to other countries.
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