ISLAMABAD: Former ruling party leader Hammad Azhar took a jab at the recent claims made by former Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) chairman Shabbar Zaidi regarding the economic mismanagement of the previous PTI-led government.
Azhar stated that Zaidi has “either lost his memory or is trying to appease someone.”
Zaidi, speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’, had asserted that the country would have faced economic collapse if the Imran Khan-led government had completed its tenure. He believed that the PTI government would not have even secured 5% of votes due to the impending economic collapse.
In response, Azhar released a statement, revealing that Zaidi had sought his support to end tax exemption for the steel industry in the former tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (ex-FATA). Azhar dismissed Zaidi’s claim that he backed the proposal for his own interest and asserted that Prime Minister Imran Khan had rejected it.
The PTI, on its Twitter, responded to Zaidi’s revelations, dismissing them as a “disappointing attempt to create a distorted view of PTI’s economic strategy” and deemed them “contrary to the facts.” The party criticized Zaidi’s contradictory and baseless claims as signs of a confused mind.
The PTI highlights that Zaidi’s objections about the PTI’s economic strategy were never mention in his resignation. When he stepping down from the FBR post in 2020, months after assuming office on May 10, 2019.
The party advised Zaidi to base his comments on facts and encouraged him to study the government’s annual economic survey and the International Monetary Fund report. The PTI emphasizes that the revival of Pakistan’s economy could only be achieved. Through accepting reality and being willing to correct mistakes, rather than insisting on untrue claims and lies.
