In a heated video address, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday criticised the economic performance of the Imran Khan-led government during 2018-2022, stressing that inflation and the exchange rate increased during Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) tenure, Aaj News reported.
Dar’s statements, in which he compared economic indicators during the PTI government and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)'s tenure in 2013-2018, come as criticism of the coalition government grew after rupee’s historic fall against the US dollar.
"If we had conducted elections right after the vote of no-confidence, you would have lost very badly," said Dar. "You should be glad that the coalition government decided to sacrifice political capital for the state.
"We worked hard during the five years of our government (2013-2018). You ruined it during 2018-2022."
The finance minister challenged financial figures quoted by the PTI chief, saying that cherry-picked figures were being used to present an unrealistic picture of the economy.
He challenged Imran to a live debate between the economic teams of both sides “so that the truth becomes clear”.
The finance minister also refuted Imran’s claims of giving 5.5 million jobs, saying no credible data could prove this figure.
“The labour survey showed that a total of 3.3 million jobs were created overall during PTI’s 2018-2022 tenure,” he said.
Dar also rejected the white paper presented by PTI’s economic team, saying it was a “pack of lies.”
Dar said Imran was a “habitual liar,” and believed in political victimisation. He said instead of admitting PML-N’s previous government’s achievements, Imran used cherry-picked figures to present an unrealistic picture of the economy.
“When we took over the economy, we helped the growth rate rise from 4.5% to 6.10%. However, in your first year in the government, the growth rate reduced to 3.7% and then nosedived to negative before coming up again at 6% in 2021,” he said.
“We left the stock market capitalisation at $100 billion. During our tenure, the stock market was rated among the best performing market. But by the time Imran left, the stock market’s capitalization fell to $25 billion.”