Govt accused of causing Rs700bn loss to economy.

The opposition Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has alleged that the country's economy has suffered a loss of Rs700 billion due to faulty policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government.

Speaking at a news conference at the National Press Club here on Thursday, PML-N leaders regretted that the present government had 'ruined' the hard work which their party's government had done in 'reviving the country's economy'.

'Our five-year of hard work has been ruined. We are all sad. The whole nation is sad,' said PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal, who was accompanied by former commerce minister Khurram Dastagir Khan, former health minister Saira Afzal Tarar and PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb.

Mr Iqbal alleged that the present government was taking credit for some of the policies that had been initiated by the PML-N. He said the auto policy had been announced by the government of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif under which a number of agreements had been signed. He said that now when these agreements were being materialised, the government was taking its credit.

Similarly, he said, the visa relaxation policy to encourage tourism in the country had been formulated by the PML-N government.

'Under a conspiracy, successes of the PML-N were portrayed as failures for a regime change which has brought the country to the verge of disaster,' he said.

Showing documents, Mr Iqbal said the World Bank had forecast six per cent growth rate in 2019. He further said that the International Monetary Fund in its report presented at the World Economic Forum in Davos had declared Pakistan a 'star performer'.

However, he regretted that the present government had brought down the growth rate by 2pc which had now come to less than 4pc, causing a loss of Rs700bn to the country's economy.

'This inefficient, inexperience, dishonest and vision-less government has crashed the economy which has taken off (during the PML-N regime),' he declared.

The PML-N leader alleged that the government had either stopped or slowed down the pace of work on a number of projects that had been launched by their government. Moreover, he said, some of the completed projects like Lahore-Multan Motorway were awaiting inauguration and the present rulers did not have time even to cut ribbons.

Mr Iqbal said that even the much-trumpeted Kartarpura corridor project had been abandoned and...