PML-N President and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday lashed out at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for failing to arrest the rising inflation in country.

Shehbaz Sharif, who is currently in London with his ailing brother Nawaz Sharif for his treatment, took to twitter to express his views. “The sharp rise in inflation from 5.8% in August 2018 to 14.6% in January 2020 should scare us.”

https://twitter.com/CMShehbaz/status/1223897489457270784

The PML-N President went on to say that the worsening situation uncovered the incompetence of the incumbent government.

The sharp rise in inflation from 5.8% in August 2018 to 14.6% in January 2020 should scare us. Therein lies the story of incompetence & the rise of mafias benefiting from the bonanza that Pakistan has been turned into under Imran Niazi. “…the rise of mafias benefiting from the bonanza that Pakistan has been turned into under Imran Niazi,” he alleged.

The tweet comes a day after the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) issued a report showing that the inflation rate in January has surged to the highest level in 12 years. The report said the inflation increased to 14.6 per cent in January from 12.6pc of the previous month.

The PBS data shows that higher prices of wheat, pulses, edible oils, etc are among the key factors behind the inflation in the first month of 2020.

He said in another statement that growing inflation in the country reflected the failure of the incumbent government’s economic policies, adding, “Tsunami of inflation has eaten up the economy”.

Slamming the ruling class as incompetent and corrupt, he said that a massive debt of Rs11,000 billion was affecting the public and economy badly.

People in rural areas suffered from the inflation more than the urban areas, he said, adding that the government was pursuing a destructive policy.