Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaders launched a scathing attack on the government’s Economic Survey, calling it a misleading document shaped entirely by IMF demands. At a press conference in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa House, opposition leaders Omar Ayub, Sheikh Waqas Akram, and Mubeen Arif Jutt accused the government of masking Pakistan’s worsening economic crisis with manipulated figures.
“The survey is as fake as Form 47,” Ayub stated, drawing parallels to alleged election rigging. He revealed shocking statistics – poverty rising from 35% to 45%, with 30 million more Pakistanis falling below the poverty line. “Wheat prices surged 50% in three years, while purchasing power collapsed. A Rs50,000 salary in 2022 now has the value of Rs22,000,” Ayub explained, citing Bureau of Statistics data.
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Sheikh Waqas Akram highlighted agriculture’s 37% decline despite no natural disasters, noting, “Farmers’ backs have been broken.” He exposed absurd economic measurements, including counting private solar panel output as government-generated electricity growth. “Three million Pakistanis fled abroad, Eid saw 30% livestock unsold, and Rs31,500 billion added to our debt – these are the real indicators,” Akram asserted.
Mubeen Arif Jutt mocked the finance minister’s suggestion to halve policy rates, demanding genuine solutions over “window dressing.” The PTI leaders unanimously condemned what they called an IMF-dictated budget disconnected from Pakistan’s economic realities, warning of continued suffering unless policies change.
