Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has termed the federal budget-2019-20 presented by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) anti-poor and decided to block it in Parliament. PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira expressed these views during a press conference held here at the National Press Club (NPC) on Wednesday.
"Prime Minister Imran Kahn should fulfill his desire by constituting a commission. The finance minister of previous government of PPP is now the advisor to prime minister on finance and revenue. Imran Khan should ask his advisor about the debt of the PPP government's tenure," he remarked.
He claimed that agreement would be signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for bailout package after approval of budget-2019-20 from the Parliament. He said that there was a proposal to increase prices of basic needs items such as pulses, meet, sugar, milk, etc. in the federal budget-2019-20. He said that the people of every segments of society including government employees, farmers, exporters, etc. are worried on the budget.
He claimed that the prime minister presented wrong figures of total debt of Pakistan in his speech to the nation. According to the PTI economic survey, total external and eternal debt of Pakistan is Rs 24,000 billion, he added. The PPP leader said, "The prime minister should clarify his intentions about the formation of the commission that either he is doing this for betterment of the country or just to take political revenge."
He said that the actual target during the prime minister's address was the opposition. He said that the prime minister's address to the nation was actually an attempt to divert the attention of the people from the federal budget 2019-20. He said that the PPP government reimbursed Rs 1,208 billion loan in 2012-13 which was 5.4 percent of GDP and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government reimbursed Rs 1950 billion in 2017-18 which was 5.6 percent of GDP. He said that many countries including the Unites States and Japan take loan for the economic development.
He said that there was 60 percent debt of GDP in the tenure of the PPP government, adding that now it has been reached 67 percent of GDP in the PTI government. The PPP leader said that there is record of utilization of debt in the financial institutions including the Finance Ministry, adding that the prime minister can check all the records and utilization of loans in these institutions.
He said that the PPP is not seeking National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) from the PTI government. He said that the PPP did not take benefit from Musharraf's era NRO as the Supreme Court had struck down it and his party leaders faced cases in the courts. The PPP leader said that he has also urged the speaker National Assembly to prove his impartiality by releasing the production orders of former President Asif Ali Zardari.
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