‘Our Stimulus Package Is as Large as Pak’s GDP’: India Tells Imran

“Nearly 84% of Indian households are seeing decreases in income since the lockdown,” says the report shared by Khan.

File image of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, used for representational purposes.

(Photo: AP/Altered by The Quint)

Reacting to Pakistan's offer to help India in dealing with COVID-19 by sharing its cash transfer program, Anurag Srivastava, MEA spokesperson, said India's stimulus package ‘is as large as the GDP of Pakistan.’

“We all known about their (Pakistan’s) debt problem (almost 90% of GDP) and how much they have pressed for debt restructuring. It would also be better for them to remember that India has a stimulus package, which is as large as Pakistan’s annual GDP,” Srivastava said.

MEA, in its statement, also added, "Pakistan is better known for making cash transfers to bank accounts outside the country rather than giving to its own people. Clearly, Imran Khan needs a new set of advisers and better information."

Pakistan PM Imran Khan on Thursday, 11 June, had said he is ready to offer help and share Pakistan's cash transfer program with India to help the country in tackling the ramifications of COVID-19 on the poor.

Citing a report from The Express Tribune, he said, 34% of households across India will not be able to survive for more than a week without financial assistance.

"Our govt successfully transferred Rs 120 billion in 9 weeks to over 10 million families in a transparent manner to deal with the COVID-19 fallout on the poor," Khan said further.

The report shared by neighboring country's PM, says,

“Nearly 84% of Indian households is seeing decreases in income since the lockdown began. Nearly a third of all households will not be able to survive beyond a week without additional assistance.”

It further says that these results are from a report prepared by experts at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago and the Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE).

In May, the government of India announced a Rs 20-lakh crore economic package to help the country deal with the pandemic. In addition, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman too announced Rs 1.7 lakh crore package for the poor.

However, opposition parties have been demanding direct cash in the accounts of migrant workers.