ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government came under fire in the Senate for what the opposition called mismanagement of the economy, with senators observing that the policy of reckless borrowing will get the country nowhere.

The criticism came after the government conceded that it had obtained foreign loans amounting to $1.88 billion in just five months.

The information shared with the House shows that mark-up of the loans obtained between September 2018 and January 2019 ranges between 0.5 and 5.7 per cent.

Opposition senator terms economic situation in ‘Naya Pakistan’ horrendous, with four million more people feared to fall below the poverty line

The worst criticism of the record loans was made during the discussion on an adjournment motion of Senator Sherry Rehman on the whopping current account deficit that finally came on the agenda after eight months.

Alleging that the government was using its influence in ensuring that the adjournment motions on financial matters are not timely taken up, Ms Rehman said the economic situation in ‘Naya Pakistan’ was astonishing and horrendous. She said the government appeared to be set to announce a third budget within a year.

A deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had been struck on dubious terms as they had not been shared with the elected representatives so far, she said. Another four million people were feared to be included in the list of those living below the poverty line, she added.

The PPP senator reminded the house that Imran Khan before becoming the prime minister had promised to the nation that he would break the begging bowl and would prefer to commit suicide instead of going to the IMF for a bailout package.

She said the budget deficit had reached Rs1.6 trillion in April 2019. She slammed the government for increasing petroleum prices and gas and electricity tariff.

Speaking on the motion, Senator Javed Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz was of the opinion that Asad Umar had been removed from the office of finance minister under IMF pressure. He regretted that the person who had replaced him was not answerable to parliament, while people of high stature within the party had been ignored in a bid to form a government of technocrats.

Winding up the discussion on the adjournment motion, Minister for Revenue Hammad Azhar criticised the opposition lawmakers for quoting ‘wrong figures’ of the economy while taking part in the debate.

Referring to the mover of the motion, Mr Azhar said that her remarks that the current account deficit at present decreased because the PTI government had taken excessive debts were “wrong”. “What is the relationship of debts with the current account deficit?” he asked and quickly added that there was no relation between them. He alleged that the opposition wanted to waste the time of parliament.

The revenue minister said the present government’s internal borrowing was less than the corresponding year and its external borrowing was half as compared to last year’s.

Quoting the statement of Senator Abbasi against the government for going to the IMF for a bailout package, Mr Azhar said: “They knew because the last PML-N government had left the country’s economy in crisis.”

Blaming the last government for the economic situation, the minister said circular debt, current account deficit and the losses of public sector enterprises considerably increased during the last government. “The country’s loans increased from Rs6,000bn to Rs28,000bn during the last 10 years of PPP and PML-N rule,” he said. He took a jibe at the PPP for changing four finance ministers during its last tenure and said: “Now they are taunting us for replacing the finance minister.” He reminded the opposition parties that the previous PPP and PML-N governments took IMF packages for multiple times during their tenures.

The minister claimed that the PTI government had taken several steps to bring the economy on right track with actual figures. He accused the last PML-N government of having involved in fudging figures of economy. All previous governments had been involved in rupee devaluation. At present, he claimed, current account deficit and trade deficit were decreasing. “Pakistan’s economy will soon be on the high growth trajectory,” he said.

Mr Azhar said the government would brief the finance committee on IMF bailout package once the deal was finalised. He said the successive governments approached the IMF 17 times before it, but parliament had never been taken into confidence.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2019