ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday shared the words of a renowned Russian-American writer, which in his view aptly describe the state in which the national economy was when the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf formed its government at the Centre.

In a post on Twitter, Mr Khan said: “This is so apt for the Pakistan inherited by the PTI government. Ayn Rand wrote this almost 60 years ago. It’s frightening how accurate this statement is today.”

This was followed by a screenshot of one of the writer’s famous quotes. The writer of the acclaimed work Atlas Shrugged had said: “When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion — when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing — when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in good, but in favours — when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work — when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice — you may know that your society is doomed.”

The PTI government claims that it has inherited a record deficit and foreign loans to the tune of Rs30,000 billion.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2019