‘Federal govt functioning without any clear agenda’

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) head Aftab Sherpao on Saturday criticised the federal government for its poor performance in the first 100 days and said the rulers could not even set its agenda for the next five years.Speaking at a press conference here, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and his ministers had been claiming to bring back the money stashed in offshore bank accounts to revive the economy, but they had miserably failed to do so.Flanked by his party leaders, Sikandar Sherpao, Hashim Babar and others, Aftab Sherpao said that the country’s foreign debt had increased due to the depreciation of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar.He said though the government received Rs1 billion dollar from Saudi Arabia, the issue of the balance of payment could not be resolved.The QWP leader said that the country’s economic growth had come down to below four percent that spoke volumes about the flawed policies of the incumbent rulers.It, he said, was the first time a government did not disclose the details of its agreements with China. He said usually the rulers made their decisions public instead of keeping them secret.“How would the government manage to create 10 million jobs and build five million houses as the economic condition is on the decline,” he argued.Sherpao said that the government was lavishly spending the taxpayers’ money on functions and events.The rulers had claimed to adopt austerity, but the ground realities belied their claims, he added.Agriculture and industrial sectors had been badly affected due to the wrong policies of the rulers, Sherapo said, adding, the economic managers of the government lacked experience to revive the failing economy.About the government’s claims to counter money-laundering, he said that the National Assembly’s parliamentary committees could not be formed despite the passage of over three months. “How can the government carry out legislation to curb benami accounts if the parliamentary committees have not been formed yet,” he said, adding that the same is the case with National Finance Commission Award.Criticising the federal government for its plans that the federal secretaries would undergo six-month probation before being posted on a high position, he said the move would demoralise the senior civil servants. He said the prime minister took U-turns on every issue as the decision to abolish the Fata Secretariat was also reversed.Sherpao said the government would seek bailout package from the International Monetary Fund as it was now inevitable in view of the prevailing economic condition of the country.Welcoming the opening off the Kartarpur corridor, he said efforts must be made to improve relations with Afghanistan and Iran too. He said trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan had come down to $360 million from $5 billion. He said the cost of the Bus Rapid Transit project had escalated to around Rs100 billion due to the depreciation of the rupee against dollar.

from The News International - National https://ift.tt/2PdmACQ