Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Dr Shahid Rasheed Butt, on Monday, said the entire burden of the IMF’s conditions is being put on the people, which will stoke poverty and further worsen their condition. The burden of these conditions should also be placed on the privileged aristocracy, which is getting benefits worth 17.4 billion dollars annually, he said. 

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that bribing nobility at the cost of the poor is the worst cruelty and daylight robbery. In addition, up to twenty billion dollars are wasted annually in government purchases, of which a sizable amount can be saved.

He said that if the privileges and corruption of elites are reduced, and this huge amount of money is spent on the people, the country’s destiny can be changed. The government always helps the rich instead of the poor, but now the process of squeezing the people should be stopped, and all IMF reservations should be removed.

The IMF fears that its money will be used to pay off Chinese debt and is not satisfied with the explanations of the concerned officials.

He criticised IMF for pressurising Pakistan to raise revenue but it has never stressed putting some burden on the wealthy instead of the poor.

Similarly, the lender has not expressed any seriousness about doling out massive subsidies to the rich while the poor merit the government’s help.

Pakistan is not being run like a country but like an orphanage; the country is going through a difficult situation, but the rich people are being rewarded in every possible way, and taxes are not being collected from them. 

All the difficult decisions that have been made so far are targeting the poor. At present, flour is available from 130 rupees per kg to 150 rupees per kg, the price of chicken has increased from 700 rupees per kg and the price of milk has reached 200 rupees per liter and this process continues which is squeezing the poor.