LAHORE: Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf provincial president Ejaz Chaudhry on Friday directed all district presidents of the party to celebrate its 19th foundation day on Saturday (today).

He asked the districts’ chapters to hold functions and cut cakes, adding that he himself would hold a function at the PTI provincial secretariat.

Mr Chaudhry urged all the office-bearers and workers to pledge to save the nation from the corrupt rulers and to work for the sanctity of the vote. He said the PTI would strive to make Pakistan an Islamic and welfare state under the leadership of Imran Khan.

In another statement, Ejaz Chaudhry said the country’s exports were continuously falling due to the bad policies of the PML-N government. He said the textile sector had witnessed 16pc fall in exports in March. Not only textile but also the export of merchandise fell by 13.44pc during March 2015, he said, adding that commerce or textile ministries had given no explanation for the continuous decline in exports, especially of textiles. He said it seemed the PML-N government had no plan to handle the sinking economy.

Mr Chaudhry said Pakistan had been restricted to Punjab and the Sharif family only as they made Chinese president’s visit their family affair. He said only building flyovers and underpasses was not the way to progress.

PTI secretary general Dr Yasmin Rashid said Pakistan’s economy had been performing far below its potential. Unlike Pakistan, she said, the countries in the South Asian region were gaining steady economic growth. She said the constant decline in exports and increase in imports had widened the country’s trade deficit by 15.42pc during July-March 2014-15.

Ms Rashid said the economic team of Nawaz Sharif needed to re-emphasize an export-led growth strategy.

Information secretary Andleeb Abbas said Ishaq Dar, who had been around for three decades, had failed to understand how Pakistan’s economy really worked. She said this year Pakistan had produced bumper crops of rice and cotton and despite that account deficit continued to rise mainly on account of low exports and increased imports.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2015

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