The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Wednesday said the ruling coalition has been unable to give the people anything but inflation and unemployment. Instead of the welfare of the people, the government’s focus is on fulfilling the allies’ demands and silencing the opposition, it said. This style of governance is undermining the economy while millions of people are falling below the poverty line, said Dr. Murtaza Mughal, President of PEW.

He said that the economy is in ICU, but its burden is continuously increasing, the economy is being neglected, and political issues are being given full attention. Except for the elite, the whole country is worried. Still, he added that the government is not listening to anyone and keeping itself busy in fruitless meetings, useless briefings, and flowery press conferences.

He said that country was already suffering from various crises, and now a flour crisis has spread across the country, which can turn into famine at any time. Still, the government seems indifferent to the situation and relies on encouraging statements.

Dr. Mughal said that the country’s treasury is empty, and no institution or country is willing to give loans because they have no hope of return. At the same time, many people think that the experience of forming a government by combining all the country’s major parties has failed. It seems that country’s economic growth will be negative by the end of the current fiscal year if the situation is not improved.

He said industries were shutting down while large-scale manufacturing, agriculture, exports, and remittances were all in the negative zone. The textile sector, which constitutes 64 percent of the country’s export, was seeing a decline of around 2.2 billion dollars per month, and over 1.5 million textile workers have been laid off.

He warned that if the government continues like this, the country may go bankrupt.