ISLAMABAD: PMLN Secretary Information Marriyum Aurangzeb says Imran Khan’s announcement of reduction in petrol and electricity prices was a last ditch desperate but unsuccessful attempt to save his job.
Responding to the government announcement, Marriyum said the PTI government increased electricity tariff by Rs 15 per unit over the past 3 years and reduced it by Rs 5 today to fool the nation and save his job. Over the past three years, the price of petrol was jacked up Rs 70 by PTI, yet desperate to save his job, Imran was using the eyewash of reducing it by just Rs. 10.
“The credit for this actually goes to the joint opposition because this decline, she said, was not due to the people’s sense of pain and problems, but to the growing fear of a no-confidence motion. If this isn’t so, why did Imran not reduce these prices when the people were pleading miserably and the PML-N was demanding reduction in petrol and electricity? Where did Imran’s hoopla about it being impossible go?”, she asked.
She asked Imran about the state of the current account deficit today. At this rate, the current account deficit will reach an all-time high of $ 20 billion, which has never happened in the history of this country, she said. In terms of GDP, this current account deficit is the highest since Musharraf era, she added.
The former Information Minister said Imran was lying to the nation by claiming that PTI had collected Rs 6000 billion. The PML-N had collected Rs 4,000 billion in taxes during its tenure, which was undisputed. The tax revenue of the PMLN era is still higher than the ratio of GDP, she said. The PMLN left tax revenue at 11.2% with the inflation at an all-time low of 3.4%, while the incompetent and corrupt Imran could not even reach 11.2% to-date. Imran Khan was using PPP’s 1970 figures and PML-N’s 1990 figures to show that inflation is low, she revealed.
Today under Imran-led mafia PTI government inflation is more than 20%, she said,
Marriyum said Food inflation was 2% in PML-N era, is at an all time high in PTI era; Inflation in Pakistan is more than double that of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka; According to The Economist, Pakistan is the third most expensive country in the world, followed by Argentina, Turkey and Pakistan.
She said Imran used to raise hell when petrol prices were raised. He should reduce money laundering, reduce tax evasion so that petrol becomes cheaper, she suggested. Petrol was available in Pakistan at Rs 82 per liter when it was $ 94 per barrel in the world market. At that time, Imran was criticizing the PML-N government. A few days ago, the price of petrol in the world market was $ 94 per barrel but was being sold at Rs. 160 per liter in the PTI era.
The PMLN Spokesperson said the rupee has not gone up to Rs 200 against the dollar, so petrol should be Rs 130 per liter. In three years, on an average, Imran’s budget deficit is more than Rs. 3400 billion every year. Under the PML-N, the annual budget deficit was less than Rs. 1600 billion. In his speech, Imran Sahib told a white lie about the deficit during the PML-N era. Imran Sahib, who took 66% of the total debt in the history of Pakistan in just three years, should not talk about debt, she said.
