ISLAMABAD: The leader of the opposition Syed Khursheed Shah on Tuesday asked the federal government to withdraw the additional taxes imposed in the next year’s budget keeping in view the welfare of the masses.
During a session of the National Assembly on Tuesday, the opposition leader said that the government has violated fiscal responsibility act by taking loans over 60 percent of the Gross domestic product (GDP).
Khursheed Shah said that the government has failed to achieve its targets set for the financial year 2013-14. He said that, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the growth rate remained 3.3 percent as against the government’s target of 4.4 percent while the agriculture growth rate also witnessed a sharp decline.
The opposition leader said that the prices of food items have risen by 200 times against the government’s target to reduce the inflation rate to eight percent. He said that the government has also fallen short of achieving the revenue collection target despite revising the target downward twice.
The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader also criticized the privatization policy of the government, and said that the privatization of profitable institutions will be contrary to the interests of the country and destroy the economy.
Shah said that the opposition will strongly oppose the privatization of these institutions as it will render a large number of people jobless.
