KARACHI, July 7,2013 (Manzoor Chandio / UPI Next) — Harsh economic measures introduced by Pakistan’s new prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to pay off the country’s formidable foreign debt may increase the ranks of the poor and allow extremists to exercise more influence, economic and political experts have told UPI Next.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar released the month-old Sharif government’s first budget June 12, unveiling a catalogue of measures that will sting the poor, while one-third of the budget’s $35 billion (3.5 trillion rupee) outlay services the country’s roughly $50 billion to $60 billion foreign debt.
Debt servicing and power industry subsidies consumed more than half of government spending during this year’s first quarter, according to the State Bank of Pakistan’s latest quarterly report for 2012-2013
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