Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said on Wednesday that previous governments ruined the country's economy by building properties abroad and plundering foreign loans.

The information minister claimed that when the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were in power, record foreign loans were taken, and most of the money was transferred to the Middle East and Europe to purchase properties.

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The minister said the incumbent government was repaying the $12 billion debt this year, adding that in such a situation it was very difficult for the government to give subsidies on commodities.

Fawad said the main cause of the current wave of inflation was due to the debt taken by the previous governments.

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The minister said that commodity prices had skyrocketed around the world and unfortunately for the last 20 years Pakistan had been importing everything from abroad.

He said that Pakistan could make quick progress by investing in technology and improving the standard of its products.