Daily Times

Sir: According to a general view, the PML-N government was very efficient in their last term. The rate of inflation has gone down by three percent, whereas, over the past two years, the GDP rate has risen by five percent, to its highest point in the past thirteen years.

Under their government, the country’s exports touched the mark of 17 billion rupees. On 24 May 2017, the Karachi Stock Exchange reached its highest mark in history at 52876.46 points. Local and international investment rates have also increased and this become feasible due to the development and infrastructure projects planned under CPEC.

Talking about provincial performance, it was claimed that Punjab lead all the other provinces in terms of education and infrastructure etc, however this turned out to be proven false. Where then did these ‘facts’ come from, if they do not paint a true picture of Pakistan’s current situation?

On 26 April the economic survey report was presented in a press meet. According to this report, in the last 4 year tenure of the PML-N, only once has the tax collection target been achieved.

Moreover, the claims of lowered inflation have also been proven baseless, because in reality, inflation has gone up by 13 percent yearly, in the last five years, whereas, poverty among the masses has risen by two percent in the same time period. The economic targets for exports, current accounts and budget deficits could also not be achieved by the PML-N government.

Today Pakistan’s debt has risen past the 24,000 billion rupees mark, meaning that every Pakistani citizen, employed or unemployed, has a debt of 125,000 rupees. This number was at 58,000 rupees when the PPP government left office back in 2013. Furthermore, a recent report estimated that for every one bed in our hospitals, there are approximately 1580 patients, for every one doctor there are 957 patients, and for our entire population, which is over two hundred million strong, there are only a total of 1211 hospitals.

So the question arises… in such a precarious condition, how can Pakistan possibly hope to develop? The PML-N government certainly made Pakistan the country with one of the most expensive motorways in Asia, but has also left the country deep under debt.

KHÖLA SÜLTAN

Via Email

Published in Daily Times, July 20^th 2018.