–Bilawal questions whether recent appointments in FBR, SBP were made on IMF’s dictation
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Wednesday accused the government of taking dictation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Speaking to the media outside the National Assembly (NA), the PPP chairman questioned whether the government took dictation from IMF over the recent appointments of economic adviser, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman.
He said that the government had not given any justification for the sacking of former finance minister Asad Umar and the subsequent appointment of Hafeez Sheikh as the economic adviser. He claimed that even the premier was unaware of the reasons behind this change.
He also criticised the government for appointing Dr Reza Baqir as SBP governor. “All of a sudden, the government appointed a person who previously worked for IMF as the SBP governor. This raises suspicions whether the IMF is taking these decisions instead of the government,” he said. “How can IMF negotiate with IMF?” he asked.
He also said that his party too had negotiated with IMF while it was in power but it had never compromised Pakistan’s financial rights. “We started a revolutionary programme when we were in power. Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) created jobs and raised the salaries and pensions of the government employees, thus helping the government in reducing poverty,” he added.
He warned the government that if it fails to improve the financial condition of the country, the opposition would protest both inside and outside the government.
Talking about the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) decision to change the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Bilawal said that the decision is not yet final. Referring to Rana Sanaullah’s speech in the House, he said that their parliamentary member had said that the party is yet to deliberate on the matter.
Bilawal also said that PPP was not taken into confidence by PML-N over the matter. Bilawal also informed the reporters that the opposition parties had decided in the Charter of Democracy that the opposition leader would be the PAC chairman so that accountability can be truly transparent.