Pakistan: Economic policies of PML-N Govt were solely for the benefit of the elite

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General Secretary Pakistan Peoples Party Sindh Senator Taj Haider has said in a Press Statement that the Economic Survey presented by the Finance Minister had clearly brought out the fact that the economic policies of this Government were solely for the benefit of the elite and the poor working classes were being severely exploited. ‘Trickle Down Economic Policy’ pursued by this Government had miserably failed even in developed countries. Pursued again and again in Pakistan by the political right and religious extremist wing the policy has further marginalized the working classes and filled the tax evading coffers of the rich.

Mr. Taj Haider said that the 70 % of our population lived in villages. Most among them lived below the poverty line. The reversal in the growth rate of agriculture sector was most alarming. The governments of Pakistan Peoples Party through their pro-poor policies had turned Pakistan from a food importing country to a major food exporting country. Living standards in rural Pakistan had seen a marked improvement during the PPP government. This had been achieved in spite of the year after year flood disasters that had severely affected the agriculture sector. This year in spite of the excellent weather conditions and ample supply of irrigation water the growth rate of agriculture had gone down. Are we once again turning Pakistan into a food importing country and pushing more farmers below the poverty line? Mr. Taj Haider questioned.

There is an exceptional growth in the Construction sector. But who owns the skyscrapers, the shopping plazas, luxury houses and flats? Not they who toil night and day to build these luxurious palaces. The Katchi abadies where the toiling masses lived were rotting in filth. These were devoid of even the basic amenities while houses in posh localities were being reconstructed after demolition as a routine to suit the tastes of their owners. Huge foreign loans were being taken to finance fancy projects. How many living quarters were being built for the millions of homeless of the country was a crucial question that could not be pushed under the carpet. The stark truth behind the exceptional growth in the construction sector was that wealth accumulated by the elite was being spent in non-productive luxury pursuits.

Same for the growth in Heavy Industrial Sector, Mr. Taj Haider pointed out. The size of the small industrial sector and home based work most of which is in the informal sector and is serving as the backbone of production and employment has shrunk down. The growth in the Heavy and the formal industrial sector is solely due to the hundreds of billions of subsidy provided to the Electricity producers of the private sector in the name of clearing the circular debt. The circular debt has returned at the end of the year almost in the same volume. It is obvious that this subsidy to the private sector is now a recurring annual feature.

The most alarming features of the pro-elite economic policy are tax reliefs to the rich amounting to 452 billion through the illegal and unconstitutional SROs and the blind borrowing for fancy projects which having crossed the legal limit of 60 % of GDP now stands at 67% of the GDP. The SRO relief directly affects the poor in terms of high inflation and shortage of resources, besides greatly reducing transfers under the NFC to the provinces. Notwithstanding the miserable failure of the Federal Government to meet Revenue collection targets the SROs have resulted in Sindh receiving 65 billion less in the NFC which has completely derailed the provincial development program. Simultaneously Sindh is at a loss to understand where and in which province the obtained loans are being used. As far as Sindh is considered even the 11 most important projects included in PSDP have been taken out, Senator Taj Haider concluded.