It seems like the PML-N-led government and its allies are turning on each other as inflation in Pakistan reaches new heights. Members of the National Assembly on both sides of the aisle are calling out the government over the price hike.
Recently, the government, in a bid to meet the demands of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), raised the price of petrol for the third time in as many weeks.
Petrol is at Rs233.89 per litre after a hike of Rs24.03, HSD at Rs263.31 per litre following a rise of Rs59.16 per litre, kerosene oil at Rs211.47 per litre after a surge of Rs29.49 and light diesel oil at Rs207.47 per litre after an increase of Rs29.16.
Read more: Abolishing petroleum subsidy to avoid default, Miftah
Moreover, prices of other commodities have also increased, for instance, wheat, sugar, cooking oil, etc. The government also slashed many subsidies as the IMF has demanded “more revenue”. As a result, the public is buckling under inflationary pressure.
NWab shah : People burned their Rickshaws 🛺 as a protest against the unprecedented petrol hike .. SHahbaz Shareef Govt of 10 parties has miserably failed in bringing the masses out of the mess of poverty and inflation ! MUST RESIGN and go for Elections pic.twitter.com/eIsgaqHd9k
— Kamran Shahid (@FrontlineKamran) June 16, 2022
Criticism of the govt
The treasury benches in Thursday’s budget debate of the National Assembly claimed that the coalition government preferred to save the country over their politics for opting to take the reins in tough economic circumstances.
PTI dissident Mir Khan Muhammad Jamali regretted that all the past governments had appointed non-elected people as finance ministers, saying the incumbent was also one such person and not answerable to anyone.
PML-N’s Javed Hasnain also questioned if there was not a single member in the house who could have been given the responsibility of the finance minister. He regretted they had handed over everything, including the State Bank, to the IMF for the sake of $1 billion.
Independent MNA Mohsin Dawar criticized the government’s move of withdrawing subsidies on petroleum products and quoted a two-year-old UNDP report that said the government was giving subsidies worth Rs2,660bn to the feudal, corporate sector, and military-run businesses. He asked why these subsidies were not considered a burden on the national exchequer.
Read more: PPP calls for making Mohsin Dawar a minister