Islamabad: The prime minister and his finance czar continued to blame the previous government for all the ills that ail the country and its economy, a day after the local currency saw one of its steepest slumps, deepening the ongoing crisis.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, instead of giving any plan to rid the country of unprecedented economic crisis, told the nation that many development projects had been adversely affected by the PTI government’s incompetence.
Even Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who spoke before the premier at a ceremony in Islamabad, could only offer platitudes, saying: “Allah Almighty is responsible for the prosperity and development of Pakistan.”
The two leaders expressed these views while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the Green Line Express Train service in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Sharif said he fully expected an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this month, after which other multilateral lenders would also support the country to help mitigate its economic crisis.
The premier’s comments came a day after the IMF said it would send a team to Pakistan next week to discuss reviving a desperately needed bailout programme, with a foreign exchange crisis bringing imports almost to a standstill.
“This is a difficult time,” the premier acknowledged but insisted that the coalition government “is trying day and night to bring the country out of the difficult economic situation”.
Blaming the stalled projects on the PTI administration, he said the leaders of the Imran Khan-led party “accused our Chinese brothers and companies of committing corruption”, denting the decades-old fraternal relations between Pakistan and China. However, things were improving now, he said.
