PM Sharif says Imran Khan 'out to undermine Pakistan', blew up IMF deal

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday criticised the economic policies of the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and said that former Prime Minister Imran Khan is out to "undermine Pakistan," Express Tribune reported.

Referring to two news stories published in the British weekly 'The Economist', Sharif said the international publication had "validated" what the government had been saying regarding PTI's handling of the economy.

The Prime Minister said the magazine had said that the former premier "blew up" the IMF deal and Imran was "exploiting the disaster to score political points".

Senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have also criticised Imran, accusing him of doing divisive politics amid devastating floods in self-serving interest, Express Tribune reported.

Earlier, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail claimed that the former PTI government was leading the country towards default and the PML-N government -- under the leadership of Shehbaz Sharif -- saved it from bankruptcy.

He had said that the Imran-led government "broke the agreement it had itself negotiated with the IMF".

Miftah had also claimed that the deal with the global lender was delayed by the previous government and that, too, was poorly negotiated.

--IANS

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