Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Wednesday called for setting up a national commission to probe the factors behind the economic decline in the country over the past four years under Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
While presenting the mini-budget, Dar blamed the previous government for the country’s economic crisis, and said the incumbent government was committed to implementing the agreement PTI leadership had signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Stressing the need for a “Charter of Economy”, Dar said all the political leaders should get together to play a role in strengthening the economy irrespective of their party affiliations.
Ishaq Dar claimed that the country was making progress in 2017-18 under the PML-N government, but all of a sudden, a successful and fully mandated government was toppled.
“A selected government was installed in 2018. World’s 24th largest economy came down to 47th rank in 2022,” he added.
He said that a national commission should be formed to investigate what led to economic decline and to find the culprits behind this ‘conspiracy’ against the country’s interests.
The minister said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his cabinet would adopt “simplicity” and the PM would take the nation into confidence soon in this regard.
The finance minister also laid a copy of the money bill in the Senate amid a noisy protest by the opposition.
The Senate session had been prorogued only a day earlier and the new session had been hurriedly summoned for the laying of a copy of the money bill.
The opposition legislators gathered around the dais of the Senate chairman while some stood close to the finance minister as the sergeant-at-arms moved in between to avert any untoward situation.
PTI senators tore apart the agenda copies of the mini-budget and threw them up in the air to bring their protest on record.
