By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Imran Khan on Friday claimed he had alerted the ‘neutrals’ if a suspected regime-change plot comes through then the country’s economy will go down with the PTI government.
“Market awaits policy and action which the imported government has failed to provide. Both myself and Shaukat Tarin had warned the ‘neutrals’ that if [the] conspiracy succeeded, our fragile economic recovery would go into a tailspin,” he said.
The word “neutral” entered the political discourse following DG ISPR Maj-Gen Babar Iftikhar’s briefing in March in which he categorically stated that the army had nothing to do with politics and called for avoiding unnecessary discussion and speculation about the army’s alleged involvement in political affairs.
Taking to Twitter, Imran said: “Rupee at all time low Rs193/$ (from Rs178 on March 8); interest rates at 15 per cent highest since 1998, stock market down 3,000 points or 6.4pc; stock market lost Rs604 billion capitalisation; inflation 13.4pc highest since Jan 2020.”
He went on to say that the numbers reflected the “lowest-ever confidence in the imported government”.
Imran’s remarks come as the Pakistan Stock Exchange and the rupee have both come under pressure over the past few days as the new coalition government has failed to take decisive economic decisions.
Responding to Imran’s claims, Federal Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail alleged that the PTI-led government left the economy on the brink of complete collapse as their borrowing reached the highest ever over Rs 20 trillion during its tenure.
He also said that Imran Khan had created difficulties in bilateral relations with China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia but now they have overcome all difficulties with their efforts.
In a statement issued here on Friday, Ismail stated that Imran Khan should respond to why the rupee depreciated from Rs 115 to Rs 179 against the US dollar during his tenure -it caused a major price hike in the country.
“The recent dollar surge and price hike are the direct result of striking an agreement with the IMF and then breaching the agreement,” Ismail said.
He said they would have to come out from IMF clutches to stabilise the rupee and stock market.
“Khan left the economy at a stage from where it would not be easy to bring it back on the path of economic stability.”
Finance minister however claimed he would be able to stabilise the economy.
“The subsidy on petrol piled up financial burdens on Pakistan.”
Alone in this ongoing month, he said the government faced approximately losses of Rs120 billion which were three-fold higher than the expenditure of running a civilian government,’ the finance minister said.
The government, he said, was just unable to absorb such massive losses.
If the government was forced to provide subsidies in the absence of fiscal resources then it would have to borrow, and increasing borrowing meant policy rate hikes, Ismail said.
He said the PTI government borrowed highest ever loans in the last three and half years, which was 80 percent of the total loans.
“In the wake of increased loans liabilities, the economy was facing immense pressures.”
The finance minister said the Khan government left foreign currency reserves held by the SBP at $10.5 billion, an import-cover for just 45 days, which was alarming.
“Khan will have to account for his last four years’ performance,” the finance minister said.
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