Staff Report
LAHORE: Pakistan’s former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan Tuesday said tough decisions should be taken by the newly elected government that comes with a clear mandate.
While addressing PTI white paper’s launch via video link, Imran Khan said whichever new government comes with the mandate of the people should take tough decisions. The PDM government does not have the moral authority to take tough decisions to stabilize Pakistan’s economy, Khan said.
Imran Khan lamented the country’s economic state highlighting the increase in inflation.
“Prices for flour, electricity, petroleum products, and food items have increased. Today, Pakistan’s industries are shutting down,” Imran Khan said, highlighting that the people of the country are afraid of seeing the direction of the country.
Exports to improve economy
He claimed that around 750,000 Pakistanis had left the country in the last eight months. Khan also stressed the need to increase the exports of the country.
For over 30 to 40 years, we should have considered increasing our exports. Pakistan’s economy would stabilize as long as the country’s exports do not increase. When I met exporters, they told me about the hurdles,” the PTI chief revealed.
Imran Khan said the economy is closely linked to politics. He said the economic situation could only improve with political stability in the country.
He said that fresh elections are the only solution to take the country out of the economic crisis.
“General elections are necessary to end economic instability. No matter what measures are being taken, the general elections are the only solution,” Imran Khan said.
Imran Khan said that approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) raises the issue of Pakistan’s autonomy.
“When going to the IMF, the country has to adhere to their directives, and you cannot take your own decisions. Instead of approaching the IMF, attention should be paid to local exporters,” Khan added.
Talking about the PTI government’s performance in line with managing the country’s economy, Imran Khan said that the growth rate was 5.7 percent to 6 percent in his tenure, and the statistics were presented in the federal cabinet.
“When the country’s growth rate statistics were presented before the court, the members were not believing. It was the best performance in the country’s history,” Khan said, further claiming to have created 5.5 million jobs in Pakistan.
