Cash-strapped Pakistan wants to 'help' India, Imran offers to 'share the cash transfer programme'

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday gave a statement highlighting the economic impact of the covid-19 crisis in India, based on a report claiming that '84% of Indian households suffered monthly income decrease'.

Also read: WHO urges Pakistan to return to lockdown as hospitals grapple with COVID-19 cases

Imran Khan's statement comes at a time when his own country is reeling under the huge economic crisis due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Also read: Bizarre! Pakistan's press continues to embarrass Islamabad

Taking to Twitter, the Pakistani Prime Minister quoted a report saying that 34 per cent of households across India will not be able to survive for more than a week without additional assistance due to low income because of COVID-19 lockdown.

The report Imran quoted in his tweet was based on data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) was published on May 12 - a day before PM Modi announced the Rs 20 lakh crore 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' package to kickstart the Indian economy.

Reports say that as of December 2019, Pakistan’s public debt was estimated at Rs $40.9 trillion, which is 14.1 per cent of the country’s GDP. The government owes Rs 18.17 trillion to domestic creditors, and about Rs 1.378 trillion to public sector enterprises.

Also read: Pakistan records 6,000 coronavirus cases in last 24 hours

So far, in Pakistan, the number of covid-19 positive cases has surged to 119,536. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 2,356.

Khan has been facing criticism from medical professionals and opposition leaders in Pakistan for easing lockdown restrictions in Pakistan. Khan said the ailing economy of Pakistan would collapse and the poorest among the country’s 220 million would suffer the most for prolonged lockdowns.

(With inputs from agencies)