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Home »Top Stories » PML-N government’s performance worse than PPP govt’s: PTI gives assessment of economy

  • News Desk
  • Jun 9th, 2014
  • Comments Off on PML-N government’s performance worse than PPP govt’s: PTI gives assessment of economy
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Sunday termed the economic performance of the incumbent government worse than the previous government's. Addressing a news conference along with Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other party leaders, Chief of PTI Imran demanded a reduction in GST to 15 percent immediately and to 10 percent over the next four years. The government was also asked to take measures to bring into the tax net 3.3 million potential taxpayers identified by tax authorities with the help of Nadra on the basis of their expenditures.

The PTI also demanded of the government to adopt austerity measures from top to bottom as there is no justification of 2.1 million per day expenditures on Prime Minister's House and President's House and Rs 4.3 million per day expenditure on Prime Minister's each foreign tour. Khan also challenged the GDP growth figures and stressed the need for formation of an independent statistical bureau to make economic data credible. The 10-point demands made by Khan also included a raise in pensions equal to minimum wage and a reduction in gas theft ratio from current 7 percent to 4 percent because consumer bears the cost of theft.

The government was asked to devise a strategy to bring back $200 billion from Swiss banks in the next three years and also reveal the allocation in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for provinces and actual releases to them. The PTI chief also demanded of the government to reduce the rate of return in dollar terms on investment in coal project to 20 percent. According to him, the government has offered a number of incentives for "plunderers" who have parked their wealth in foreign banks. He said the government is spending development funds in Lahore by slashing the share of other provinces and warned that the government approach would create tensions between smaller provinces and Punjab. Khan said that country is being ruled by a family and Prime Minister's brother, Chief Minister Punjab, is accompanying him on all the foreign tours by ignoring the Chief Ministers of other provinces. KPK can produce cheap hydel electricity but agreements are being signed for generating expensive coal-based electricity in Punjab. Criticising the government for taking 'huge loans' to add to country's existing debt, he said there is no respite from load shedding despite the cost of electricity doubled since the government came into power.

Asad Umar said that the government's claim of 4.1 percent GDP growth has been contested by a highly reputed economist, Dr Hafeez Pasha. He said the government inherited 5.2 percent inflation which after a 60 percent increase, according to government's own estimates, reached 8.2 percent. Asad Umar said that according to Dr Pasha all the indicators suggest that the GDP growth would not cross 3.5 percent whereas the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has projected a 3.3 percent GDP. He said the GDP growth as per independent projections is below 3.8 percent of previous government's last fiscal year. Investment has fallen significantly while trade deficit has widened. As a result, current account deficit which was $1.5 billion last fiscal year has increased to $2.1 billion in the current fiscal year. He further stated that circular debt has soared to Rs 300 billion after clearance of Rs 480 billion at the start of fiscal year. He also criticised the increase in dollar terms rate of return on investment to 27 percent and decrease in tax for foreign investors to 20 percent, which would remain at 35 percent for local investors. The government has appointed acting heads in regulatory bodies so that its decisions are not opposed, he said adding that around 200 acres of land of Pakistan Steel Mills at Port Qasim has been given to a company for a project with investment from China and Qatar. He said that Fawad Hassan Fawad, an official at Prime Minister's House, is personally monitoring the project while the name of Saif-ur-Rehamn, former Chief of Ehtisaab Bureau, is being cited in relation to this project. He said that there are reports that Prime Minister's son is also a partner in the project for which the government is diverting gas from its own expenditure for the project from a nearby pipeline.

Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the government has not provided GST relief on agriculture inputs. He said the government performance was also 'very bad' in agriculture sector.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2014


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