Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has been repeatedly claiming that “we [the PTI] government left economy in robust health.” That there’s merit in his claim is a fact. The current rupee slide and rising inflation lend credence to his argument.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led government has been struggling, albeit unsuccessfully, to inject stability, however modest, into the market situation where business confidence is at the lowest ebb. Finance minister Ishaq Dar has clearly failed to fix the economic mess his predecessors, Dr Miftah Ismail, had created. Dar sahib is well aware of the fact that food inflation matters most as it is the core inflation that affects the common man.

We need leaders who care about the common man. Fortunately, Imran Khan is a leader who deeply cares about the common man and the progress of the entire nation. Although, the incumbent government has been facing the clamor to quit amid the economic meltdown, it has decided to do nothing but stay put. Given the profundity of the economic mess, this is, no doubt, a highly dangerous approach to politics. I urge the government to revisit its strategy in the larger interest of the common man in particular.

Saleem Bokhari (Lahore)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022