However, he claimed that the future of Pakistan had been "mortgaged" through rescheduling of debts. In a statement issued here on Wednesday, former federal minister Naveed Qamar said that rescheduling on its own can be beneficial if the interest payments deferred were used to reduce the capital debt and invest in human resources. However, he accused that in the present reckless and irresponsible financial climate, the interest money saved through deferred interest payments were being squandered on white elephant projects such as building of a new military general headquarters and bases.
PPPP MNA accused that the present regime might claim to have said good bye to the IMF but the fact was that we are still being monitored by the Fund in critical areas. Moreover, he said, the regime still is begging and borrowing from other international lenders as well as from the open market which was far more expensive and detrimental to national economy as was evident from the floating of bonds.
Naveed Qamar said, "By spending more than we earn on the basis of the September 11 financial windfall, Islamabad was endangering the future of the of the unborn children of the land.
The PPPP leader said that money should be invested in the reduction of capital debt as well as on improving education and health. PPPP was committed to producing an educated manpower equipped to deal with the modern technological world so that the country could create jobs, increase productivity and growth, and allow its citizens to lead prosperous lives, he added.
Naveed Qamar said that in the absence of a representative and democratic government, the basic needs of the people were being ignored, adding that joblessness, inflation, hunger, economic suicides were creating misery and suffering and the future of the country was being mortgaged.
"An independent and sovereign Pakistan could be built only when debt was cleared which the present regime was ignoring," he said.
The MNA noted that PPPP without the financial assistance of September 11 events and saddled with a Moeen Qureshi IMF agreement for fiscal control, had achieved a great victory for the nation by becoming the first government to pay off capital debt.
He said the need of the hour was to make Pakistan a democratic country, giving respect to its people by investing in its youth and prepare to meet the challenges of the new scenario with dignity and enlightened moderation.