Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the government’s spokespersons and ministers to counter the “fake narrative” of opposition parties targeting the recently-tabled finance bill.
The prime minister presided over a meeting of the spokespersons on Monday, which was attended by the PTI leaders and cabinet members.
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin briefed the participants on the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021, which was introduced in the National Assembly last week.
While instructing the government’s spokesperson to remove the public’s confusion over the mini-budget, the premier expressed displeasure that the details of the finance bill could not be communicated to the public effectively.
He said that the opposition is exaggerating figures in the mini-budget, which according to him, will only burden the common man by Rs2 billion. The premier said the confusion surrounding the rebates and refund of taxes must be removed.
The prime minister said the public should be made aware of the documented economy which he said is in the country’s interest. He further directed the spokespersons to highlight other achievements of the government on the economic front such as robust growth in the agriculture sector, growing exports and others.
He also drew a comparison between him and the former rulers and told the spokespersons that it shouldn’t be difficult for them to defend him and the government’s policies against the former “corrupt” rulers.
“On one hand you have internationally-recognised thieves and on the other you have Imran Khan, defending whom is not difficult at all,” he said.
“Your brand is Imran Khan, who is neither corrupt nor a thief.”
