Khawaja Asif terms Budget 2020-21 ‘temporary’, predicts mini-budget

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif has termed the federal budget 2020-21 ‘a temporary one’ and claimed that there will be a mini-budget.

Addressing the budget session of the National Assembly, the PML-N leader said, “There will be a mini-budget and more taxes will be imposed.”

Khawaja Asif also termed top government officials having a career history with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as mercenaries. He said, “These are mercenaries; why are they brought to power?”

The PML-N leader further said that the PTI-led federal government was drawing back economically. “In fact, the government has acknowledged defeat without saying it publicly,” he said.

Comparing the performance of the incumbent government with the PML-N, he said that the GDP, agricultural growth, and large-scale manufacturing rates were 5.5 percent, 4 percent, and 5 percent, respectively. “The same under PTI government’s “Naya Pakistan”, however, are -0.4 percent, 2.7 percent, and -0.78 percent, respectively,” he added.

Khawaja Asif said that the incumbent government was also failed to address the pandemic with concrete measures. “You’ve left doctors, nurses, alone by telling them to go fight the ‘jihad’ alone,” he said.

The PML-N leader said that the government should have benefited from the falling interest rate but Pakistan incurred a loss of about Rs 1.5-1.7 trillion on the interest rate. He also said, “They had promised to punish the Sahiwal incident’s culprits but they freed them.”

Commenting on the COVID-19 situation, Khawaja Asif criticised the federal government for its Covid-19 response and said that they assumed that corona would come and go.

“There was no concrete planning. Asad Umar says that by the end of July we will have 1.2 million cases. Why? Why will we have 1.2 million cases?” he questioned.

Khawaja Asif said that the incumbent government was also failed to address the pandemic with concrete measures. “You’ve left doctors, nurses, alone by telling them to go fight the ‘jihad’ alone,” he said.