New Delhi: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has equated the deal with International Monetary Fund (IMF) as treating "cancer with disprin (aspirin)". This comes after Pakistan failed to reach a staff-level agreement to unlock a $1.1 billion loan tranche even after 10 days of discussions.
According to Khan, the agreement with IMF will just be a temporary relief and may plunge the country into further problems as debts will just increase. He made the remarks in a televised address from his Zaman Park residence on Wednesday.
Khan said that the country is heading on the same path as Sri Lanka while criticising the economic policies of the country's government.
"Do not destroy the country just to oust Imran Khan from the political arena," said Khan, who is also the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in a report by Dawn.
He also questioned the mini-Budget prepared by the Pakistan government saying that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government had attempted to shift the burden of bringing more inflation to the shoulders of Pakistan President Arif Alvi by asking for an ordinance to approve the mini-Budget. He said that the mini-Budget will just bring a wave of inflation and the salaried class and housewives will be feeling its effect as the purchasing power will witness a drop.
"Even the PDM government is reluctant to get the approval of the mini-budget from its own members in the parliament," Dawn quoted Imran Khan as saying.
Accusing the Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif-led government of plunging Pakistan into crisis, Khan said that the corrupt and incompetent leaders do not have the welfare of the people in their minds. He said that the nation now has only two choices- either sit idle and wait for the imminent disaster or become part of PTI's protest to ensure that rule of law is upheld and general elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are conducted within 90 days.
Pakistan is facing its worst economic crisis and the latest reports say that its forex reserve has slipped to $2 billion which is barely enough to pay for imports for 10 days.