Unbridled govt borrowing drowning economy

KARACHI: Showing grave concern over ever-swelling circular debt, Pasban Democratic Party (PDP) President Altaf Shakoor has said that unbridled government borrowing would ultimately doom our fragile economy, and the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan should devise a foolproof policy to avoid getting more local and international loans to bridge financial gaps.

Commenting on a statement of former finance minister Miftah Ismail that the circular debts in they PTI government are increasing with the rate of Rs1.27 billion per day, he said if this statistics is correct then it is a very serious issue. He said snowballing of circular debt is a sure recipe for an economic disaster. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan should personally take notice of these matters as making Pakistani economy free from loans was one of his electoral promises.

Altaf Shakoor said the doom of former Soviet Union has proved that the nations that are militarily strong but economically weak could not survive in long run. He said the economy of Pakistan is going from bad to worse and this nose-diving has further increased after the PTI government has taken charge. He said it is true that economic problems are often a result of wrong decisions of previous regimes, but the new government must show the masses that its economic approach is different from the previous governments. He said rise in circular debt is a sign that the economic managers of new Pakistan are not radically different from their counterparts in the old Pakistan.

PDP president said humiliating devaluation of Pakistan rupee, sharp rise in electricity and gas tariffs, not abolishing levies and taxes on petroleum products are some of the indicators that the new government has no option but to accept the shameful slavery of the institution likes IMF and bury the country under more foreign loans. He regretted that interest and payments of foreign loan installment devour a huge chuck the budget of our country. He said if the practice of depending on loans to run the country continued, one day even our whole budget would be not sufficient for serving foreign loans.

Altaf Shakoor advised the Prime Minister Imran Khan to focus on local resources, particularly developing the neglected agriculture sector.