How Can a Country Paying Rs. 8 Trillion in Interest Stand on Its Own Feet? – PAT

Claims of reduced inflation after imposing Rs. 500 billion in new taxes are a joke
Prime Minister should take the State of Madinah as an economic model instead of India
Not a single page in the thousands-page budget document addresses debt relief – PAT Secretary General
Even thinking of raising electricity prices in a country with 50°C temperatures is cruelty

Khurram Nawaz Gandapur, Secretary General of Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT), said that a country paying Rs. 8 trillion annually in interest cannot stand on its own feet with mere rhetorical statements. He stated that introducing Rs. 500 billion in new taxes and then claiming that the budget is "people-friendly" is laughable. The budget document, spread across thousands of pages, does not include even a single page outlining a plan to get rid of loans and interest payments.

He demanded that an economic emergency be declared in the country, and that the privileges enjoyed by thousands of bureaucrats and elites — who receive $17 billion annually in perks — be completely withdrawn. He said the Prime Minister, Speaker, Chief Ministers, Ministers, and bureaucrats may have their salaries doubled if needed, but the perks such as free housing, free electricity, free fuel, and official vehicles must be revoked.

Gandapur highlighted the plight of a Grade-IV employee earning Rs. 37,000 per month, who manages to pay rent, educate children, and run a household within that meager income. He stressed that in a country where temperatures can soar to 50°C, even thinking of raising electricity prices is sheer cruelty.

Meanwhile, PAT’s central information secretary Noorullah Siddiqi said the Prime Minister should take the State of Madinah as a role model for economic stability, not India. He reminded that the State of Madinah declared 1,400 years ago that an interest-based economy leads to destruction and ruin.

He criticized the government, saying that after causing 100% inflation, announcing a 10% salary increase is an insult. The Rs. 500 billion in new taxes, combined with that modest raise, will effectively cancel out even the basic salary increases. With the rising costs of electricity and fuel, household kitchens will go cold, and these hikes in essential utilities will severely impact the income of the common man.

PAT leaders Raja Zahid Mehmood, Mian Rehan Maqbool, Qazi Shafiq, Qamar Abbas Dhoul, Arif Chaudhry, and Sardar Umar Daraz Khan described the budget as disappointing and completely devoid of any promising hope for a brighter future.