Former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan Sunday lashed out at PML-N led coalition government for bringing down the country on the verge of default, saying that it will not damage the interest of the “gang of thieves” if the country defaults.
While, addressing a presser, the PTI Chairman Imran Khan compared his government’s performance with that of the incumbent PDM government, said the “gang of thieves” has properties in foreign countries worth billions of dollars, hence they do not care about the economic collapse of the country.
“The reason of my media talk today is to make the people aware of the direction that our country is heading in,” he said. “If we don’t raise our voice then Pakistan will experience something it has never before, and we are going to default. All the funding from abroad will be stopped.
“A default would signal that the country’s dollar income has ceased, which would cause the rupee to fall even more. The criminal cabal that was forced upon us is unconcerned with any of this. The last 30 years have seen them steal money. They have enormous quantities of money hidden abroad.” The former premier said.
Imran said that because they have funds stashed abroad, the ruling class does not care if the country defaults. However, he continued, “the condition of a default is alarming for the common man.”
“A default will be a very big loss for Pakistan. No investment will come back into Pakistan. No overseas Pakistani will be willing to invest in Pakistan.”
When he was ousted as prime minister, the dollar exchange rate was Rs178, he recalled. “Today, we can’t even buy a dollar for 250 rupees.” he added.
The PTI leader asserted that despite turning around the economy he inherited when he took office in 2018, the current system has undone his efforts.
“When we got Pakistan [government] in 2018, we had the largest current account deficit,” he said. “When our government was ousted, the GDP growth was at six per cent. These figures are usually only seen during martial laws of Ayub, Zia and Musharraf. This was because [during their eras] we were receiving dollars from the US.
“They didn’t make any dams but we made six dams, out of which two were massive. We launched the health card that was praised by foreign magazines. Our Ehsaas program was internationally acknowledged. The billion tree tsunami was praised around the world. UK prime minister Boris Johnson mentioned my name and our climate change program at the UN.”
Imran accused the media of looking the other way on important matters and instead focusing on what he implied were trivial issues, such as his Toshakhana watch.
“The channels that used to bash the PTI government for inflation, those channels are quiet now and are instead focused on a watch,” he said. “It’s my watch. I can sell it, and I can do whatever I want. No one is talking about the economical murder being committed now.”
Imran further said that today, the inflation is double and at a 50-year high. “Where are those media houses now?” he questioned. “No one cares about the inflation now. When we used to say the inflation is due to global reasons, no one believed us. When these cabal of crooks say the same thing, no one is questioning.”
