The imposition of new taxes in the budget was a “difficult” decision, however, the government did not have any other option, said Adviser to Prime Minister on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira.

“It is true that the new taxes of Rs215 billion will put an extra burden on the people. But the government had to take such measures to put the economy back on track,” he said on Aaj News’ show Rubaroo on Sunday.

Kaira blamed the previous PTI government for mishandling the economy and agreeing to strict conditions of the International Monetary Fund.

Parliament on Sunday approved the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 which was revised to meet the IMF conditions for revival of the long-stalled programme.

PTI’s Shah Mahmood Qureshi expressed disapproval of the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 and demanded the resignation of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. In Multan, Qureshi highlighted that the budget, presented on June 9, has faced rejection from both economic experts and the IMF.

In reaction to Qureshi’s statement, the PPP leader said that instead of criticising Dar, Qureshi should tell what they have done for the economic development of Pakistan.

“He [Qureshi] criticised the finance minister’s economic measures. He should have also provided a solution better than Dar’s,” he added.

To a question regarding a possible meeting of PPP and PML-N top leadership in Dubai, Kaira declined to have any knowledge about such a meeting. “Meetings are held by political parties in the country as we are nearing the election date. I do not know about any understanding between the PPP and PML-N.”

Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Malik, who was also a guest on the show, said that the government had tried to not impose additional taxes due to hiked inflation in the country.

“But it had to do it to bridge the shortfall in revenue generation. The coalition partners also wanted an increase in the allocation for the province while we also had to comply with the IMF conditions,” he added.

While responding to a question regarding the differences between some leaders of the PML-N, Malik claimed that Miftah Ismail has not resigned from the party.

“Miftah resigned from party leadership positions. He remains part of the PML-N, while Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is still a senior leader of the party.”

Both of them had disagreements with some of the party decisions, he said, adding: “The party leadership was of the view that they should show their disagreements within the party”.

Malik said that the PML-N stands clear over the return of Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan. As soon as the elections are announced, Sharif will come back to the country, he added.