KARACHI: Former Federal Finance Minister and Muslim League-N leader Miftah Ismail has said that petrol is expensive for the car owners, it has no interest in the poor, leave the external debt, now the local debt has also increased a lot.
Addressing a function in Karachi, Miftah Ismail said that the people of villages and villages have been poor for 75 years and they are only trying to meet their basic needs.
Miftah Ismail said that after getting the name from ECL and getting the portfolio of Finance Minister, he went to America to talk to the IMF, where he demanded to increase the prices of other things including petrol.
He said that I came back and recommended the government to increase the price of petrol, but the government opposed, then we gave the budget in July and after the agreement, the money came from the IMF in September and then they kicked us out.
Former Federal Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail termed the restoration of the economy in the country as difficult and said that the country has reached this situation due to the mistakes of 75 years, there is a need to expand the provinces and increase exports and the interference of the army in everything must end.
He expressed these views while addressing a function organized by the Rotary Club in a local hotel in Karachi. Former Federal Minister of Finance Miftah Ismail said that first of all we have to make a plan to control the population, there was only two to three years of current account surplus in 75 years, we import a lot and export very little. It is not the province’s responsibility, under the 18th amendment the powers have been transferred to the provinces but the funds do not reach the lower level.
He said that the subsidy should be given directly to the farmers, we are repaying the old loans by taking loans, the PTI government has broken the IMF agreement by selling petrol and diesel cheaply, we have not reduced our expenses, export and tax to The GDP must also be increased, those who are not paying taxes must be brought into the net, those who are rich have no problem, the poor are still in problems, leave the external debt, now they are stuck in the clutches of local debt. .
Miftah Ismail said that the steel mill has been closed for years, it is not a priority, provinces do not collect taxes on this account. Miftah Ismail said that the value of the dollar is the work of the market, it is not the work of the finance minister, the monetary policy is strict while the financial policy is very easy.
He further said that 5.5 million children are born in Pakistan every year and when we talk about population control, Islam is in danger. The former Federal Finance Minister said that Dar Sahib showed his eyes to the IMF, on which he stopped talking and when the money ran out, now we are dealing again, 2 mistakes before my arrival, one mistake after my departure.
Miftah Ismail further said that the children living in the villages of Sindh, KP, Balochistan, Punjab have been in crisis for 70 years. All the stakeholders need to be brought forward and all together lead a movement to improve the government.
