Daily Times

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Wednesday said the PTI should tear up its current agreement with the IMF and renegotiate its terms with the international money lender, a private TV channel reported.

“We are not saying that don’t go back to the IMF, we are emphasising on the fact the government should renegotiate the deal, keeping in mind Pakistan’s economy and how it runs, they should not accept the terms of the IMF completely,” he told media outside the parliament. “The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics and State Bank of Pakistan, the government’s own institutions, have said that a record inflation has hit the country,” he said. “The State Bank has said that even if you add up the loan procured by previous governments, it is less than that of the incumbent government,” he said. “The FBR has informed that the tax collection is at a shortfall of Rs 400 billion,” he said.

Bilawal said that when the opposition questions the government about the tax shortfall, all they receive are personal attacks instead of answers. “We can withstand their personal attacks but the people of the country belonging to every class cannot bear the government’s economic policies,” he said. “Since this government has taken charge, the journalists are not getting paid, it is tough for them to even run their own houses,” he expressed. “Hafeez Shaikh was the finance minister in our tenure, but he was not given such freedom in decision making back then. The PPP-led government always made a deal with the IMF in accordance with the demands of Pakistanis,” he said. “When negotiating with the IMF, the government should not have compromised on its economic sovereignty and the people’s rights,” he noted. Criticising the finance advisor, Bilawal said that keeping aside what Bloomberg and IMF are saying, the government should ask the people of Lahore, Hyderabad and Gujranwala about their opinion.