KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto has rejected the budget proposed by the PTI-led federal government, terming it an “economic attack on Pakistanis”.
“Prime Minister Imran Khan has made his “anti-people and anti-poor” agenda clear through the latest budget,” the PPP Chairman said in a statement issued from Media Cell Bilawal House today (Saturday).
Bilawal Bhutto said that PTI would not be permitted to play with the nation’s future, vowing that his party would not allow the ‘incompetent’ Prime Minister to conduct an economic massacre of the people.
“An entire year has passed but the condition of the people did not change. If there is historic inflation, joblessness and poverty, how can the budget be termed people-friendly,” Bilawal questioned.
“People now know that Imran Khan has a habit of making tall claims. The prime minister has failed in providing relief to the common man,” he said, adding that PM Imran was “deaf, dumb, and blind” to the plight of the average citizen.
The PPP chairman said that while the government was busy presenting “false facts” through the Economic Survey 2020-21 and claiming that the nation is flourishing, government employees protested against inflation outside the Parliament.
Budget 2021 focuses on sustainable economic growth, says Tarin
Finance minister Shaukat Tarin today (Saturday) asserted that the federal budget 2021-21 focuses on the uplift of the poor and sustainable economic growth through incentives for various sectors including agriculture, industry and housing.
He expressed his views while addressing a post-budget press conference in Islamabad alongside Minister for Industries Khusro Bakhtiar, Adviser to Prime Minister Razak Dawood, PM’s Special Assistant Sania Nishtar.
“For the first time we have given an overall growth-oriented budget,” the minister said, pointing to innovation in revenue collection, incentives are given to exporters, and exemption of duties on local industry.
Tarin further said the main emphasis of the budget is to protect the vulnerable segments of society. “God has given us the ability in this budget to become a means for the poor so they understand that this government will not wait for trickle-down effect,” he added.
