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ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister on Finance Muzzammil Aslam on Monday said the Shehbaz Sharif government was set to present its fifth consecutive budget with the country facing historic levels of unemployment and inflation, and the economy remained stagnant.
Speaking at a news conference at KP House in the capital, Mr Aslam claimed no government in Pakistan’s history had presented five consecutive budgets. Mr Aslam stated that, according to the government, the economic growth rate would reach 3.7 per cent by the end of the current fiscal year, while the target for next year was 4pc. He said the extensive promotion of the Uraan Pakistan initiative had created the impression that the economy would witness significant growth, but nothing had improved.
He said the government had projected inflation at 8.2pc for the next fiscal year. He questioned the government’s claim of 3.7pc economic growth this year when major crops recorded growth of only 0.6pc. He further pointed out that while the government claimed livestock grew by 3.8pc, it simultaneously reported fodder crops registering negative growth of 2.1pc, which, according to him, reflected the credibility of the government’s growth claims.
