Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) leader and former senior minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao said that keeping in view the economic statistics the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has miserably failed to meet the targets it had set a year ago. Sikandar Sherpao while speaking at a meeting of the QWP Peshawar district chapter on Sunday said that this government even reversed the economic growth that had been achieved under the previous government.
He said the PTI government had claimed it would reduce the fiscal deficit and the current account deficit, but the fiscal deficit has been the highest in 28 years due to the flawed policies of the rulers. "The fiscal deficit has jumped up from a target of 4.9 percent to a record 8.9 percent of the GDP," he said, adding that such a large increase in the fiscal deficit indicates that the government lacks the expertise to address the economic challenges the country is facing.
Sikandar Sherpao further said that the government could not meet the revenue targets while expenditures keep rising despite the so-called austerity measures. He said the country's economy was shrinking owing to the poor policies. The QWP leader said that a year ago the fiscal deficit stood at Rs2.26 trillion, or 6.6 percent of the GDP, but it has increased by 50 percent to Rs3.445 trillion in the last one year.
He said the government should revisit its economic policies to revive the economy and give relief to the people in the face of skyrocketing inflation. He said the purchasing power of the people have eroded due to the ill-conceived policies of the government.