Pakistan Muslim League-N has strongly criticised increase in the interest rate by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and said that monetary policy has been tightened in the country on the dictation of IMF which is a matter of grave concern.
Central Secretary Finance Muhammad Pervez Malik said here on Friday that the government must take the parliament into confidence regarding conditionalities of IMF and tell the nation as to how many more bitter pills would have to be swallowed by the people. Deploring the decision to auction Qadirpur Gas Fields, he said, "selling of profit earning national institutions at throw away prices should be stopped." He regretted that parliament is being by-passed while taking decisions on important national issues.
Malik said it is negative approach to seek loan from IMF to provide crutches to national economy. He called for adopting simplicity and austerity to steer the country out of economic crisis.
He said that decisions on important matters of vital importance must not be taken in haste. He said the PML-N would continue to play its positive role, as opposition within and outside the assemblies should point out flaws in government policies through constructive criticism. Malik said people have started expressing their dismay over the poor performance of the federal government describing it as worst than dictatorship of Pervez Musharraf.