Press & Media Brief 28 April 2026
PTI's Economic Think Tank
Stability Claims, Crisis Reality, and the Pain of 250 Million Citizens of Pakistan
1 – Aurangzeb’s pitch to EU business leaders: big claims, hard questions.
With Aurangzeb’s pitch to EU business leaders, here are a few hard questions on the claims he made:
a.Is the reentering of capital markets an economic victory, or a fancy term for celebrating more debt. Can he explain why 75 years of debt has almost doubled in 4 years to Rs 80 trillion, since the same status quo forces have been in power for all but 3 years since 1947?
b.How can he talk about Pakistan being open for investment when FDI is down almost 30% year-on-year – and 3 western Embassies, the US for PepsiCo, the UK for Halmore Power, and the EU for Maersk, have written to the Govt of Pakistan about the issues in the business environment these companies are facing?
c.How can he talk of “Structural reform” when both the IMF and the World Bank call Pakistan’s current economic model unworkable, and the unprecedented micromanagement by IMF in its programme reads like a vote of no-confidence in the govt credibility.
d.He says GSP matters, and it does – so why weaken the case? Rights, rule of law, and free speech are not side issues; they directly affect Pakistan’s our GSP standing. Did Aurangzeb highlight why the govt itself is doing its best to spoil Pakistan’s case on merit.
e.A reminder to the current Finance Minister and Former EU Citizen, who must believe unequivocally in democracy: will he ask the EU to release its assessment on the 2024 elections instead of keeping it buried.
2 – 4 Years of Forex Failure - Exports Down, Imports Up, and No Plan.
Year to date: exports have fallen by 7% and imports have increased by 8%. This is a 15% hole to fill in scarce foreign reserve coffers. The government’s forex “strategy” has been friendly country deposits, remittances of overseas Pakistanis it abuses that are at risk from ME tensions, central-bank dollar buying, and an artificially managed exchange rate—while investment stays at all-time lows of 13%, and FDI falls almost 30% vs last year. Pakistan cannot borrow its way into earning dollars. Just a thought. 4 years are enough to fix this problem, or to show the way. If not, its time to resign.
3 – Energy Crisis: No money to keep schools open, but $2.6 bln to build strategic reserves. How does that work?
After 4 years of false claims, Minister Ali P Malik is now admitting Pakistan has no strategic fuel buffer. This is a national-security failure – no excuses after the war with India, and since the bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities. When schools can’t stay open on Fridays because fuel burns scarce forex, the govt expects the public to believe it can magically find billions of dollars to build reserves. How?
4 – Energy Crisis: Relentless Load Shedding
Every day, 250 million citizens are reminded of “peak-hours relief” that is, in plain language, load shedding. Bills are doubled with fixed charges, taxes and fuel price adjustments, but the Form 47 govt has no solutions to provide electricity. Panicked water releases and resulting falling hydel generation in the peak summer can only mean even higher bills, more load shedding, and lesser water for irrigation — pushing an already-rising food import bill even higher.
5- How many syringes could be bought with a Rs 11 billion Gulfstream Jet?
Reports say Punjab has cut development budgets for education and health. If true, it is indefensible—especially amid reports of a Rs11bn Gulfstream purchase for VIP travel. If Punjab is so rich that it can be the only sub-national govt anywhere in the world where the Chief Executive has a govt owned Gulfstream Jet there cannot be a shortage of money for schools, hospitals, clinics, and basic public health. This is a province where 331 children got HIV because in Taunsa, hospital staff had to reuse syringes. Imagine, how many single uses syringes could Rs 11bn buy?