Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday ordered a big relief package to protect the people from rising inflation, but economic experts say that the treasury is empty, from where will the Prime Minister give a big relief package to the people?
On Friday, a meeting of the parliamentary party of the Muslim League (N) led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other stakeholders of the coalition government was held in Islamabad. The Prime Minister openly criticized the government’s economic policies during the PTI meeting. He said that during Imran Khan’s regime, the prices of essential commodities increased by a record.
Shahbaz Sharif said that now it is our first responsibility to provide relief to the people. The Prime Minister issued orders to the concerned ministries, directing the preparation of a special package for the youth.
The Prime Minister directed the ministers to include the welfare of the youth in their priorities. He said that it is the need of the hour to guide the youth towards positive and constructive activities by saving them from despair.
The Prime Minister directed the concerned ministries to take measures to provide relief to consumers from high gas and electricity bills.
Shahbaz Sharif also directed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar to ensure the availability of all resources for the aid package.
The prime minister directed the PML-N leadership to organize public meetings and rallies and highlight the economic achievements of the current government to the people, to counter the narrative of PTI Chairman Imran Khan.
It should be noted that the federal government had announced a reduction of 10 rupees per litre in the prices of petroleum products on Thursday to give relief to the people.
However, economists say that a drop of Rs 10 per litre in the prices of petroleum products was not enough. They said that the price of oil in the world market has fallen below 80 dollars per barrel, but the government’s reduction in petroleum prices is not compatible with the drop in global market.
Criticizing the Prime Minister’s announcement, economists and analysts questioned how the government manage to provide relief package when the treasury is empty and there are only $6.7 billion left in the treasury. Alongside the reserves, Pakistan has $3 billion from Saudi Arabia and about $1.5 billion dollars from China and $1.5 billion from UAE.
They questioned where is their money in the treasury, the announcements are being made to provide relief to the people when export rate is not improved – the only source of income of any country. The price of the dollar is increasing, the foreign exchange rate is increasing while Reserves are getting less and less day by day and tax revenue is not reaching its target, they added.
Analysts said that the crisis situation is that the LCs are not open, manufacturing has stopped, where will the money come from in this situation, with which the government will provide relief to the people. They said that the announcement of the government was not less than any joke with the nationals.