Shehbaz Sharif blames Imran Khan for Pakistan's economic problems in first public speech

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday, blamed former prime minister Imran Khan for country's economic woes including mounting loans and inflation. This was Sharif's first address to the nation after he took prime ministerial office on April 11. In his speech, he claimed that India needed to restore Article 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

"The previous government is deliberately concealing facts. I want to remind them that you entered into a deal with IMF, not us. You accepted their harsh terms, not us. You pushed the country into an economic mess, not us," Dawn newspaper quoted Shehbaz as saying.

Shehbaz Sharif's speech came just a day after a massive fuel hike.

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Pakistan`s Finance Minister Miftah Ismail on Thursday said the government had no other option but to raise the prices.

A day after his government announced a price hike, Shehbaz today said he was starting a new relief package of PKR 28 billion per month "to protect the poor from the burden of petrol and diesel price hike"."Under it, 14 million poor families are being given PKR 2000 [each]. These families comprise 85 million people."

Pakistan PM said this was in addition to the monetary aid already being given to them under Benazir Income Support Programme.

"This relief package will be added to the next budget," he said. While delivering his address, Shehbaz said the country has incurred more than USD 20,000 billion worth of debt, which was more than 80 per cent of the total loans taken during the history of the country.

Sharif said that his government was ready for tough decisions in order to end "incompetency and corruption" and moving the country towards progress.

Conspiracy for 'personal gains'

Hinting at Imran Khan's actions during last days in office, Sharif said that he propped up the issue of alleged foreign involvement for 'personal gains'.

Imran Khan had named USA and had alleged that there was a conspiracy to oust him from position of power. Khan had claimed that he had documentary evidence of the conspiracy but what he put forth was slammed by critics as mere diplomatic communication.

In his speech, Sharif said that Pakistani ambassador had dismissed the notion of conspiracy. Sharif asserted that Pakistan will function in accordance with its constitution and not according to what one person thinks.

(With inputs from agencies)

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