The parliamentary leader of Pakistan People's Party (PPP) in Senate Senator Sherry Rehman on Tuesday questioned the federal government for spreading "misinformation" and for not applying for the G20 debt relief programme.
"Why has Pakistan failed to formally ask G20 for debt relief? It is alarming that the federal government was misleading the public, especially during these testing times," she said.
The senator continued that contrary to claims made by the federal government about securing a substantial debt relief, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Resident Representative, Teresa Sanchez, said that Islamabad had not made an official request to G20 countries for payment relaxation.
"Pakistan should have officially requested G20 nations for debt relief. It is important to point out that only those countries could avail debt relief that had made official requests to the G20. In Pakistan's case, this never happened," said Rehman.
According to the senator, when no official request was made to the G20 nations for debt relief, why was "misleading" news circulating in the media that Pakistan would secure $12 billion worth of relief. "This will not only cause chaos and confusion inside Pakistan but is also embarrassing in the eyes of the international community," she added. Questioning the lack of transparency on the part of the federal government, Rehman added, the federal government had announced emergency relief packages without consulting the Parliament.
"Why is the federal government not taking the parliament into confidence? Pakistan's fiscal position is deteriorating at an alarming rate and Parliamentary oversight has become more imperative than ever," she added.
Commenting on Pakistan's deteriorating economic condition, she said that what was even more alarming was that Pakistan's public debt had already soared to Rs41 trillion, which was almost equivalent to 93 percent of our GDP. "Before it's too late, the federal government urgently needs to revise its macro-economic policies."
Rehman said that the federal government must take swift action as this was not the time for mixed messages and experimentation, adding, "We need to focus on building a national unity narrative."
"It is the federal government's job to unify the country in these testing times but this is also being done by us," the PPP leader concluded.
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