World News | Federal Budget for 2023-24 is a huge blow for Pakistani housewives

Islamabad [Pakistan]June 10 (ANI): Housewives were greatly disappointed by the federal budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 presented by Pakistan’s Finance Minister Ishaqdar on Friday as it failed to ease surging household spending, according to international news reports.

Pakistani women are finding it difficult to make ends meet amid an economic crisis rarely seen in the country’s history, with many expressing outrage at soaring prices for basic household products.

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International News is one of the most widely circulated English-language newspapers in Pakistan. It is published daily in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

The report cites a teacher at a private school in Jonathan lamenting Pakistan’s poor economy and budget, saying: “It’s no use listening to statistics when it becomes difficult to even feed and educate children.”

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Saima is a single mother of two and earns just (PKR) 25,000 a month. “Can you ask a budget maker to do a month-to-month budget for my house?” she was quoted as saying by International News.

Housewives believe that a 35% pay rise for government employees is a good thing, but not enough to cope with the current price rise.

“All I know is that nothing will change when the Budget is announced. In fact, it will add to our problems,” said Nadia Majeed, a housewife who chose not to follow the address of the Budget.

Almost everyone who analyzes and dissects budgets agrees. Another housewife, Samina Jamil, told News International that budget planners have largely ignored ordinary people and their interests.

Neelum Shahzad, another housewife, said: “The economy is not doing well. We cannot expect a miracle in a year. This budget comes at a time when the country is going through extraordinary and unprecedented financial turmoil. I am sure it will. Improve over time.” .

Pakistani Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif attends the unveiling of the federal budget by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Friday.

In his budget speech, the finance minister compared the fiscal performance of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Justice Instigation (PTI) governments.

“In the pre-PML-N tenure, inflation was 4 percent,” Ishaq Dar said, adding that the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was the fifth best-performing market in South Asia.

The minister noted that PML-N completed new projects to meet the country’s “power shortage”.

“Infrastructure and highways have been developed while jobs have been created,” Dar said, adding that the country’s economy has prospered under PML-N’s tenure.

He further stated that the PTI government has “deliberately” damaged Pakistan’s economy through energy subsidies. “The incompetence of the PTI government has led to the current challenges the country is facing,” he added, according to ARY News.

Dar said the previous government had damaged the country’s reputation by reneging on an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), adding that public debt and liabilities had “doubled during PTI’s four-year tenure”.

“During PTI’s four-year reign, the revolving debt increased to (PKR) 129 billion a year,” he noted.

He berated the PTI government for “destroying the country’s economy”, saying the previous ruler had planted “economic landmines” for the next regime.

The finance minister also noted that the country is facing serious economic problems due to the floods.

Dar insisted that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government was taking “corrective measures to get the economy back on track”.

“With the help of Allah Almighty, the government saved the Pakistani economy from default and exposed the conspirators,” he added, according to ARY News.

“The current account deficit has fallen substantially in 2022-23,” he said, adding that the current government had introduced “austerity measures” to reduce the deficit. (Arnie)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the body of content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)