ISLAMABAD- The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) today lamented sale of profitable national assets to bridge budget deficit and termed it as a roll-call of blunders. According to the President of PEW, Dr. Murtaza Mughal, policy makers are focused on reducing deficit which has pushed them into an abominable IMF trap. Transferring ownership of our national assets may result in growing poverty, unemployment and eroded exchange rates as foreign investors would transfer profits overseas, he warned.

In addition, international financial institutions want to impose global economic order, a plan hidden behind attractive words like privatization, deregulation, downsizing etcetera. The government has planned to cut supply of natural gas to CNG outlets in Punjab to one day a week on the pretext of supplying gas to power plants to minimize load shedding. The decision has been taken on the behest of influential owners of the gas guzzling captive power plants, he added. The decision would benefit few running primitive power plants wasting gas worth Rs 70 billion per annum while hurting tens of millions dependent of the economical fuel, he remarked.