ISLAMABAD: According to ARY News on Saturday, former federal minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Omar Ayub has questioned the present government’s budget for the coming fiscal year, claiming that petrol prices will rise to Rs310 per litre.
Omar Ayub, speaking at a news conference in Islamabad today, stated that the PTI government has kept the power price at Rs16 per unit, which will increase to Rs40 per unit next month.
“Petrol prices would also rise from Rs300 to Rs 310 per litre,” he said. According to Omar, who cited the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority, the gas bill will climb 400 percent, and individuals who were paying Rs1350 will now have to pay Rs3400.
The existing government, according to the former minister, was aiming to drag the business community to its knees. “The rupee will be under further pressure, and the government will fall short of its targets,” he warned.
Omar Ayub described the current leadership as “imported,” claiming that the country’s banking ranking has deteriorated since they took office.
PTI Senator Shaukat Tarin, who took over the news conference, called the government’s budget “non-serious,” criticising several of the figures and targets for various industries and areas.
“They should understand that no matter how much spin-doctoring you do, the facts don’t lie,” Shaukat Tarin remarked, noting that the budget deficit is Rs4.2 trillion.
Tarin said that the government has set a target of 5% GDP growth with the agriculture sector accounting for 3.9 percent of GDP, alleging that the target is impossible given the current water problem and rising fertiliser prices.
The government has set a target of 7.1 percent growth in the manufacturing sector, he said, noting that PTI’s growth rate in the industry was 7.2 percent.
The government will impose a petroleum charge of up to Rs35, according to the former finance minister, causing another round of inflation in the country. “Bank tax rates have been raised by 12%, and their growth figures are nonsensical,” he added.
In response to a question about electricity sector subsidies, the former minister stated that the PTI government provided Rs1 trillion in subsidies to the sector. “They’re following the same old Pakistani thinking,” he continued.
After the IMF refused to provide a US$1 billion tranche in exchange for the reversal of fuel and energy subsidies, the federal government increased the price of petroleum goods by Rs60 per litre in less than a week.
The federal government, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has raised the pricing of petroleum items with a heavy heart.
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Shehbaz Sharif said that his predecessor, Imran Khan, had laid a trap for his government by lowering fuel prices after determining that the no-confidence vote against him would prevail.