Key cabinet members of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Tuesday mocked Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) 100-day plan as "unrealistic" to be implemented and described it a shoddy copy of the PML-N's "Vision 2025."
PML-N ministers including Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, Minister for Power Division Sardar Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari, Special Adviser to Prime Minister on Revenue Haroon Akhtar Khan, Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister for Federal Education and Training Baligh-ur-Rehman and Punjab Government Spokesperson Malik Muhammad Ahmed Khan, addressed a joint news conference to respond the PTI's 100-day plan.
Iqbal said that as the country enters the next electoral phase, the issue is not of 100 days but the next 1,825 days, adding that it needs practical steps to be undertaken instead of making "tall claims." Describing PTI as the "presentation party" and PML-N as "performance party," he said that his party's government added 10,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid, restored peace in Karachi, and ensured Balochistan's inclusion in the mainstream development process.
He said that Pakistan's economy has been put at a growth momentum by resolving the issue of energy shortage and defeating terrorism in the country. He said that the investment worth billions of dollars came under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a game changer project for the country. He said that it is an irony that Chairman PTI Imran Khan has presented a program of 100 days of his future government, but he is unable to apprise the nation of his 90-day agenda he had put forth for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after winning the 2013 general election.
"Pakistan cannot be won through presentations but through performance," he said, adding that that Khan's 100-day plan is not based on reality and is incoherent as well as incomplete. "It is not realistic in any way. Even if you want to copy something, you need brains to do it," he said, adding: "PTI has attempted to copy PML-N's Vision 2025."
He also mocked the PTI chairman for starting a metro bus project in Peshawar when he has been criticizing Punjab government for doing the same. He said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government in 2014 asked the Planning Commission for permission to seek loan from the Asian Development Bank because they wanted to build a metro bus in Peshawar.
"It's been four years, and there is still no sign of the metro buses. They haven't even put up fences along the tracks," he said, adding that Peshawar has been turned into rubbles in the name of development. Finance Minister Miftah Ismail said that Imran Khan's 100-day plan is not practicably implementable. "It looks ridiculous," he said. He said that the estimated cost of the 100-day plan is about Rs 1,600 billion, but the PTI chairman has not explained how he will arrange the amount for the executing the plan.
He said that the expenditure of the measures that the PTI plans to initiate will be borne by none other than the people. The creation of a new province in South Punjab, which is one of the promises made by the PTI, will cost around Rs 50 billion, he added. He maintained that 10 million jobs that the PTI promised to create for youth in the country will cost around Rs 140 billion while reduction in energy costs would cost the national treasury an amount of Rs 55 billion.
The finance minister pointed out that the PTI had also announced an incentive package for exports, Rs 100 billion, in contrast to former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Rs 55 billion. Summing up the total cost of the promises made by the PTI for its 100-day plan, he said that the total expenditure will be Rs 1,598 billion which means in the next five years, the PTI chief will spend Rs 8 trillion more than the government is spending now.
He said that outstanding debt of the federal government is Rs 27 trillion and it will increase to Rs 45 trillion while the proposed plan of PTI will increase GDP deficit by four percent per year. Currently, he said that the debt-to-GDP ratio is 4.9 percent which would rise to 8.9 percent if PTI came into power with its plan. "This will lead to inflation and price hike," he added.
Referring to PTI's promise to increase tourism, he said that Imran Khan promised to increase tourism by converting government guesthouses into hotels. "Let me ask him whether he [Imran] really thinks that the reason behind decline in tourism is because of a lack of hotels?" he asked. On the government's economic performance, Haroon Akhtar said during the incumbent government's tenure, the revenue collection has been doubled while tax to GDP rate has been increased by three percent.
He said GDP growth rate was increased from 3.8 percent in 2013 to 5.8 percent, Consumer Price Index decreased from 7.98 percent to 3.78 percent, adding that inflation has been decreased. Per capita income increased from $1,333 in 2013 to $1,640 over the past five years while Stock Market Index has touched 41,600 points despite the current political turmoil, he said.
About tax relief, he said that corporate tax was reduced from 35 percent to 30 percent, and another five percent reduction has been announced in the next budget. Minister for Power Division Awais Ahmed Khan Leghari highlighted the government's performance in power and water sectors, saying that the PML-N government presented Pakistan's first ever water policy with the approval of all the four provinces. He said that effective measures have been taken to eradicate load shedding.
Minister for Federal Education and Training Baligh-ur-Rehman said the incumbent government disbursed Rs 107 billion to provincial universities through Higher Education Commission (HEC), which were Rs 45 billion in 2013. Speaking about the government's performance in health sector, Health Minister Saira Afzal Tarar said though health is a devolved subject, the federal government delivered on its part and improved indicators in every area of health sector.