Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Wednesday said that around 75 million people fell below the poverty line during the PTI government tenure.

“One out of 10 children around the world who are deprived of education is Pakistani,” he said while addressing a press conference after the federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad. He was accompanied by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.

Fiscal deficit

Taking a jibe at former Prime Minister Imran Khan, the finance minister shared data comparing the economic situation from 2017-18 to 2021-22. The same data was shared by Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb in her tweet earlier in the day.

Blaming the PTI-led government for the country's economic woes, he said the PML-N government in its tenure took $1 billion loan per year just like the governments before it. "In comparison, the PTI government took loans to the tune of $9 billion every year."

Miftah claimed that the PML-N government had brought 20 million people out of poverty during its tenure. “There was no increase in GDP or decrease in the inflation rate during PTI's tenure.”

On former planning minister Asad Umar’s tweet on depleting foreign reserves, he said such a development was true but it was not because of the no-confidence vote. He clarified that the dip was due to the Chinese loan that the government had to return.

"Exports have increased but it is mostly to do with the price effect. Meanwhile, the imports have increased by twice the amount of exports, and will hit $75 billion this year.

“Even if we add the remittance figures, the current account deficit is expected to cross $20 billion,” said Miftah.

IMF programme

“We have promised IMF we will revive the programme,” he said about the Extended Fund Facility. He added that the country’s fiscal deficit has grown from Rs2,260 billion in 2017-18 to Rs5,600 billion in 2021-22. SNGPL incurred more than Rs200 billion in losses, he continued.

Miftah informed the media that he will leave for Washington on Wednesday night for talks with IMF. “We will tighten our belts and lessen the PSDP [spend]. We will give a disciplined budget that will trigger development.”

Descirbing the fuel subsidies offered by the erstwhile PTI government a ‘landmine’, Miftah said Imran Khan's decision to freeze oil prices was taken abruptly without the approval of the cabinet or the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

The ECC recently approved Rs68.81 billion as a supplementary grant for disbursement of price differential claims (PDCs) to OMCs/ refineries for the month of April and to meet the shortfall of Rs1.87 billion for the month of March 2022.

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has projected that this expense will shoot up to Rs96 billion in May and June.

“This is double the amount needed to run a civilian government — we cannot sustain this subsidy, but the prime minister needs to take a decision on this,” said Miftah.

Power situation

On the energy crisis, Miftah said that 75,000MW of electricity wasn't being produced as power plants were shut down, resulting in power outages in the country.

“This [PTI] government didn't purchase LNG while critcising us for long-term LNG pacts. We will do the same in the future and within 3-4 months you will see the improvement,” he said in response to a question.

He blamed the fertilizer shortage on the ousted PTI government, claiming that the former government smuggled it to Central Asian countries.

PM Shehbaz has ordered an inquiry and formed a commission to investigate it, Miftah added.

Speaking on subsidies on flour and sugar prices in Punjab for Ramazan for Punjab, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the federal cabinet has asked other provinces to follow suit.

Punjab has been asked to support Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan regions, she added.