Govt's willingness to recover plundered wealth questioned.

KARACHI -- Rejecting government's claim that it had no option but to increase prices of petroleum products, a top economist questioned the government why it's not ready to implement the law regarding illegal assets in Pakistan that could help recover Rs900 billion or so in a few months' time.

'Instead of enhancing prices of petroleum products that have made lives of millions of people more miserable, the government should have aimed at recovering huge amounts from the plundered money from unlawful assets,' argued seasoned economist Dr Shahid Hasan Siddiqui at a programme organised by Karachi Citizens' Forum to discuss the present socio-economic crisis.

The event was held at the PMA House the other day.

He blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf-led government, the incumbent rules as well as 'aggressive statements and threats by the PTI chairman' and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for the mess the country was in today.

'One of the reasons the IMF [International Monetary Fund] isn't finalising the agreement with the present government is that the PTI has been consistently raising the concern that it would be thrown out after passing the budget. The international monetary agency wants to be sure that the...