ISLAMABAD, Jan 5: Information Secretary of Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) Siddiqul Farooque on Thursday said that the recent reports of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) had exposed the fake claims of the Musharraf government about economic development and prosperity.

In a statement, he said both the reports had predicted that the GDP growth rate would not rise beyond 6.5 per cent this year.

Mr Farooque said the analysis of these institutions had in fact confirmed the popular view that development statistics publicized by the rulers for the past six years betrayed ground realities. Indeed, they have been deceiving not only the people but also themselves with fudged statistics, he added.

He said Gen Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had been citing 8 per cent growth rate to show the efficacy of their economic strategy but facts had now proved that not only their growth rate claim was false but also its results had been harmful.

Mr Farooque pointed out that the trade deficit of Pakistan had risen from $2.9 billion to $10.4 billion, while industrial production was on the decline and production of 10 industries had decreased by 75 per cent in the first three months of the current financial year with 20 large units running in loss according to the SBP.

Mr Farooque said that the foreign exchange reserves that had inflated to 13 billion US dollars due to fresh loans and remittances by overseas Pakistanis had now reduced to $8.8 billion, while the non-development expenditures of the government continued to rise due to unnecessary perks of the ruling elite. He also noted that the government had acquired loans worth Rs101 billion to make up its budgetary deficit.

The PML-N information secretary said that continuous rise in the prices of petrol and diesel was also meant to cover up the consequences of the government’s faulty economic policies. He demanded heavy cuts in non-development expenditure as well as reduction by Rs15 to 20 per litre in petrol price to provide some relief to the people.