“Before their ouster, the PTI left a web of issues for us,” the premier told reporters after chairing a cabinet meeting in Islamabad.

The incumbent government has jacked up fuel prices three times in the past 20 days. This has brought the fuel subsidy announced by the preceding PTI to zero.

These ‘tough decisions’, as the PM Shehbaz-led government describes it, have resulted in skyrocketing inflation with the increase in energy tariffs and basic commodities prices.

PM Shehbaz told reporters that he tooks the decision to increase fuel prices “with a heavy heart”. In order to tame its impact, some schemes were also announced. He vowed that the government, with the support of its coalition partners, would steer the country out of the ongoing financial crunch.

“We are taking difficult decisions. Hopefully, good times are not far away,” he said. During his media talk, he repeated claims that the PTI-led government had violated the agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

He said the government was taking other steps to address the issue including bringing affluent people people into the tax net. This would would help the government in supporting those living below or just above the poverty line, he added.