- Crushing poor with new taxes belies govt’s hollow claims of economic revolution: Sh Waqas
- Exposes govt’s callous indifference toward hardship-stricken public, saying regime’s apathy is evident from its massive salary hikes for ministers and parliament
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has strongly condemned the “selected government” for its repeated failure to pass on the full impact of declining global oil prices to the already burdened public, warning that such economic exploitation amounts to skinning the poor alive.
PTI Central Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram, in a statement on Friday, lambasted the “unrepresentative government” for its continued refusal—for the third consecutive time—to pass on the full benefit of declining international oil prices to consumers, thereby further aggravating their hardships.
Sh Waqas stated that the fascist regime has withheld a potential reduction of approximately Rs18 per litre in petroleum prices over the past two months, citing a series of clumsy and misleading excuses—a move that starkly contradicts its own hollow claims of an economic turnaround.
The PTI CIS said that the anti-people government has once again prioritized fiscal exploitation over public welfare, relying on weak and deceptive justifications.
He asserted that the imposed regime has consistently imposed cruel new taxes to squeeze money from the masses, who are already under severe financial strain, yet has made no effort to reduce its ministers’ lavish and unnecessary expenditures.
Exposing the government’s callous indifference toward the hardship-stricken public, Waqas stated that the regime’s apathy is evident from its massive salary hikes for ministers and parliament, while burdening the poor under various pretexts—a blatant attempt to punish them for supporting Imran Khan’s PTI.
He emphasized that rather than increasing the Inland Freight Equalisation Margin (IFEM) on petrol and diesel to cover Rs34 billion in oil industry losses – thereby denying citizens the benefit of global fuel price reductions – the government should implement sound economic policies and slash its own extravagant expenditures to revive the struggling economy.
PTI CIS expressed surprise that, on one hand, the regime claims credit for bringing about an economic revolution, yet ironically, its only solution for fixing the economy and generating revenue is to further overburden the poor and skin them alive with new taxes imposed on a daily basis.
Waqas demanded that the imposed regime immediately ensure transparency and accountability in fuel pricing so that citizens receive the rightful relief in line with international market trends.
