LAHORE: National Assembly opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif says the PTI government is falling back on global commercial banks to avoid depletion of foreign exchange reserves which confirms the concerns and alarm expressed by the opposition.

“The government’s policy of relying on foreign banks for US dollars is like playing with fire. The opposition will not let the government approve a mini-budget,” he said in a statement on Friday.

The PML-N president hoped the conscientious members of the government and its allies would take a bold stand to stand by truth. “If the government’s allies join the oppression of the people they will also be seen by the nation as accomplices in destruction of the national economy along with the PTI,” he said.

Shehbaz said that since 2018, the government had reached a debt level of $40 billion which was alarming to say the least.

“During the first five months of the current financial year, the government borrowed $4.96bn out of which $3.45bn were for non-developmental purposes. Out of the $14bn budget estimate, only $4.699bn have been raised so far,” he said and added debt money could not sustain the economy and nor was it a wise policy in favour of the country.

“With the entire economy, national defence and government system on debt, the philosophy of geoeconomics will become a joke,” he lambasted.

“The US dollar is at an all-time high of Rs180.7 and the government is creating more instability by saying the country is running out of dollars,” Shehbaz said.

Published in Dawn, December 25th, 2021