- PTI marches towards Islamabad to stage protest.
- “Tax revenues are decreasing due to confinement and protests.”
- The industrial sector faces a loss of Rs20 billion in the provinces: FinMin.
Pakistan is suffering a huge loss of 190 billion rupees per day due to road closures and lockdowns triggered by opposition calls for protests, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has said.
The minister’s comments come as the opposition party heads to Islamabad to hold a ‘do or die’ protest at Islamabad’s D-Chowk on the call of PTI founder Imran Khan.
The opposition party said it had staged a protest against the “illegal” incarceration of Khan, other party leaders and workers, the “stolen mandate” in the February 8 general elections and the 26th constitutional amendment.
Talk to Geo NewsAurangzeb said tax revenues are declining due to the lockdown and protests, while exports are suffering from business disruptions.
“Protests lead to additional expenditure on security in a bid to maintain peace,” the finance minister said, adding that the IT and technology sector has also suffered losses.
He said the Finance Ministry had also prepared a report on the losses incurred due to the protests, according to which the GDP is incurring an estimated loss of Rs144 billion per day.
“According to the report, the reduction in exports due to strikes results in a daily loss of Rs26 billion,” the Finance Minister said. “Foreign direct investments are also affected, resulting in a daily loss of Rs 3 billion.”
Aurangzeb further revealed that the provinces are separately suffering due to the protests, adding that they are facing losses of Rs26 billion in the agriculture sector daily.
The loss suffered by the provinces in the industrial sector amounts to more than Rs20 billion, he added.