PTI’s Salman Akram Raja Criticizes Government’s Economic Claims, Cites World Bank Report
Lahore: Senior Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Salman Akram Raja has rejected the government’s claims of economic recovery, describing them as misleading and citing a recent World Bank assessment as evidence of continued fiscal challenges.
Addressing a press conference at the Lahore Press Club, Raja said the government’s efforts to beautify streets and standardize signboards were cosmetic measures that failed to address the country’s real problems.
Referring to the recent deaths of children, he expressed sympathy with the affected families and said PTI stands with grieving households across Pakistan, describing the party as both a political and social force.
Raja claimed that despite five federal budgets, the government had failed to fulfill its promises of improving the economy. He also alleged that Pakistan continues to face serious challenges in human rights, education, and public welfare.
Citing figures attributed to the World Bank, he claimed that around 40 percent of 15-year-old children in Pakistan suffer from stunted growth and that a similar proportion are not enrolled in educational institutions.
He further alleged that the government’s claims of turning the economy around were false, saying that while external financial assistance had been secured, the country’s economic fundamentals remained weak.
Referring to the World Bank’s assessment, Raja said the report criticized the federal government’s expenditure, arguing that the number of federal ministries and administrative spending had increased despite the constitutional devolution of powers under the 18th Amendment.
He also claimed that the provinces of Punjab and Sindh had transferred Rs804 billion to the federal government, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had chosen to allocate its resources toward education and healthcare.
Raja further alleged that the federal government’s debt had reached levels comparable to the country’s cumulative borrowing over the previous decades and claimed that funds from the provinces were being used to service debt obligations.
