Daily Times

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif on Monday called for putting the names of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and State Bank Governor Reza Baqir on the exit control list (ECL) over what he called poor economic performance.

Initiating the debate on budget 2020-21 in National Assembly, the PML-N leader said the government is drawing back economically. “In fact, it has acknowledged defeat without saying it publicly,” he said, adding that now the government is following the IMF’s lead. He said the government should have benefited from the falling interest rate but Pakistan incurred a loss of about Rs 1.5-1.7 trillion on interest rate. “The caretakers of Pakistan’s current economy Dr Hafeez Shaikh and SBP governor should be given targets and they should also be made to sign performance bonds. Don’t make a mess out of country’s economy,” he added.

The PML-N leader said that the tax revenue of ‘Naya Pakistan’ stands where it was in the previous government’s tenure. “During former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s tenure, growth in gross domestic product (GDP) was 5.5%, and the same under Prime Minister Imran Khan s ‘Naya Pakistan’ is -0.4%,” he said, adding that today Bangladesh is ahead of Pakistan in every aspect of economy. He claimed that there will be a mini-budget soon and more taxes will be imposed. “They are mercenaries; why are they brought to power?”

The PML-N leader, taking note of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, said he honours the healthcare professionals for not only putting their own lives at stake but also potentially risking their families as well. “This government’s policies are against them,” he added.

Federal Minister Asad Umar brushed aside PML-N leader Khwaja Asif’s request to put the names of State Bank governor and finance advisor on ECL, saying that his confidence in ECL has been lost as there is no point in having an exit control list if one can escape the country by showing fake medical reports. He quipped that Khawaja Asif had misled Nawaz Sharif into thinking that people would forget Panama case, but now he is helplessly trapped abroad with fake medical reports. He said that Nawaz Sharif should immediately return to Pakistan. “The opposition used to say that Imran Khan is a cricketer, he knows nothing about politics and there was a time when the party only had one assembly seat,” he said, and urged the opposition to answer for their own deeds, and not try to hide behind Imran Khan.

The opposition members belonging to all political parties demanded an increase in salaries of government employees as they work hard and look toward the government in the annual budget. Agha Refiullah, Eng Qaim Hussain Qaimkhani, Salahuddin Ayubi and Sadaqat Ali Abbasi also speak on the occasion.