Staff Reporter – Lahore:
Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) on Thursday rejected Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘biggest relief package’ that he announced yesterday in a televised address to the nation, terming it a ‘bundle of lies.’
The premier announced the country’s biggest-ever subsidy package worth Rs120 billion yesterday providing a 30 per cent discount on ghee, flour and pulses to support 130 million people. As per the package, the beneficiaries would be able to avail of the discount for the next six months.
The prime minister, in his address, had claimed that some 20 million families would benefit from the package to be funded jointly by the federal and provincial governments.
“Did the government not say at the time of announcing the budget that it is a tax-free budget? Now, while addressing the nation, it is said that petrol will be expensive in the country soon,” said PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif in his statement while criticizing the government for not keeping its promises.
The leader of the opposition in the National Assembly wondered how inflation would be tackled when the prices of gas, electricity and petrol would swell.
According to Sharif, the country had been trapped under the burden of foreign debts, and the terms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also doubled the troubles of the nation.
“Sugar price has surpassed Rs130 per kilogramme in the wholesale market, while the price of a 50-kilogramme bag has climbed by Rs270 in Quetta. The price of sugar increased by Rs5 per kilogramme in two days. The nation does not trust any of the government’s statements based on false promises,” said the PML-N leader said.
He also claimed that the remaining sugar stock could be used for another 15 days, and the prime minister was fulfilling his wish of addressing the nation on TV.
He said that PTI was trying to conceal its incompetence, corruption and wrong decisions by declaring inflation as a global issue.
“Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif showed how government affairs are run by bringing the rate of development at 5.8 per cent and inflation at 3.6 per cent,” said Sharif.
“If you will take Rs15,000 billion debt in three years, then inflation is bound to rise” in the country, he added.
