LAHORE - Jamaat-e-Islami chief Senator Sirajul Haq has asked the government to reduce inflation if it is true in its claim about the improvement in the economy.

Addressing a meeting of central leadership at Mansoora on Wednesday, he said this was not the first time that Moody’s Investors Service upgraded outlook on country’s debt from negative to stable, adding the people of Pakistan also heard the similar announcements in the past but their own economy never improved.

He said the up-gradation in the credit rating of any country by the American institution soon after the accession to the IMF program was a routine practice. But, he added, the fact was that a country which surrendered before the policies of the international lending agency hardly witnessed real development. So, he said, the government should provide relief to the poor and middle class instead of claiming victory on Moody’s report. He said inflation was record high and a common man completely lost buying capacity. Thousands of youth, he said, lost became jobs in past 15 months and they saw no employment opportunities in government and private sectors in near future. He said the educated young generation was depressed and worried about their future.