F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said despite challenges and conspiracies hatched by the political opponents, the coalition government had successfully managed to put the country in the right direction in the shortest period.
The prime minister, in his over 14-minute address to the nation, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme agreed by the previous government on the toughest conditions, was the biggest obstacle in the way of the country’s economic revival. The last regime had brought the country to the brink of default by deviating from that agreement, he added.
He said ironically, the political opponents remained busy in hatching conspiracies and creating hurdles while the coalition government was trying to resume the programme. The incumbent government had to face the biggest challenges and conspiracies in Pakistan’s democratic history in the shortest period, and steered it out of the deep crisis, he added.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the coalition government was going to end in August on completing its tenure and would hand over the reins to the caretaker set up. “During the short period of one and a quarter years, due to our collective wisdom and prudent policies, we cleared the debris and economic landmines laid by the previous government,” he added. He said the period of his government was a journey of moving from the destruction towards construction, economic stability, helping the flood affected people, providing maximum employment to the jobless and relief to the people hit by inflation, and revival of freedom of speech, media freedom and national integration.
He said the coalition parties sacrificed their politics for saving the country from default by taking the toughest decisions. “We always remained worried about increasing the foreign exchange reserves instead of thinking about our vote banks.” The prime minister said despite anti-state conspiracies, the government did not loose its heart and succeeded to reach a staff level agreement with the IMF.
“Today on behalf of the whole nation, I sincerely thank friendly and brotherly countries China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, which once again supported Pakistan with sincerity under very difficult situation and that can never be forgotten,” he added. He said the way, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan played their role in bringing Pakistan out of the crisis, was praiseworthy.
The prime minister also acknowledged the efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the diplomatic front. Similarly, he also appreciated Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of the Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir for their untiring efforts to help stabilize the economy. Now, he said, the time had come to regain the country’s lost glory by moving forward with collective wisdom and struggle. For that purpose, he added, a comprehensive national plan of economic revival had been finalized. The Special Investment Facilitation Council had been set up, which had initiated its work and was paving the way for big investments from the Gulf countries in various fields including agriculture, industry, energy, IT, defence production and minerals, he said.
PM Shehbaz also assured the nation that on this national agenda, the federal government, all the provincial governments, and the armed forces were adopting the whole of the government approach to make it a success. Expressing satisfaction over the overall economic situation, the prime minister said the trust of the business and investment communities was also reviving while the international rating agency Fitch had also improved Pakistan’s rating to triple C.
Similarly, he said, the United Nation’s Human Rights Council had also testified the improving situation of human rights in Pakistan whereas the country had also showed improvement by seven points in the International Freedom Index. Shehbaz Sharif said when the staff level agreement with the IMF was announced on June 30, the investors expressed their full satisfaction through the Stock Exchange Market as the KSE-100 index jumped by record 2446 points in a single day.
Now the Stock Exchange had crossed the 45,000 points level which was the highest in 14 months, he said adding that the value of Pakistani Rupee was also improving. The prime minister said the Rs 1,150 billion historical development budget, Rs 2,000 billion agriculture development fund under Kissan Package, conversion of agriculture tube wells to solar energy, Rs 80 billion Prime Minister Youth Programme, interest-free and concessional loans in agriculture industry, IT and other sectors, provision of laptops to the talented students, educational scholarships, women empowerment, special scholarships to families of martyrs, and timely completion of infrastructural projects were few of the achievements of the incumbent government. Resolving to break the begging bowl, he asked the youth to come forward to take the country to new heights of development and prosperity.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the deal inked with International Monetary Fund (IMF) was a moment for Pakistan to reevaluate its policies towards attaining the goals of financial self-reliance.
“The IMF agreement is not a moment of rejoice, but to assess the state of affairs as to how the country has become dependent on loans and foreign grants,” he said in his address at the PM Youth Loan and Laptop Scheme event here at the Bahauddin Zakariya University. The IMF’s executive board on Wednesday approved the $US3 billion stand-by agreement for Pakistan to help overcome its current financial challenges.
The prime minister said though the country had averted the dangers of default, however, consistent efforts were required to stabilize the economy from recent external shocks. He emphasized a united approach by all segments of the country including the government, the State institutions, and the nation to lead the country towards financial self-reliance.
“A nation, which learns from its mistakes and takes corrective measures, attain the goals of prosperity,” he said. Terming youth the future of Pakistan, he said the development policies must ensure their inclusion in the national mainstream. The government, he said, was pursuing the vision of encouraging the youth in educational and professional fields.
He appreciated the brilliant students who were focusing their energies on education with dedication and hard work. He recalled establishing several Danish schools across Punjab and south Punjab for underprivileged students to help them excel. The prime minister said contrary to nepotism, merit could help drive students belonging to underprivileged backgrounds to achieve success in their fields.
He mentioned that due to the restraint of resources, only 100,000 laptops were being distributed under the programme and stressed the need for expanding the project to benefit a large number of students. PM Sharif pointed out that during the tenure of the previous government, industrialists were given loans on a meager four percent markup which incurred big losses to the economy.
Had these loans been given to students for entrepreneurship, the outcome would have been much positive and better, he added. He announced to increase in the number of laptops for students up to five million and set up a Medical City in Multan if their party came to power in the next general election. He also announced the construction of a flyover at Shujaabad to facilitate the people of the area.
The prime minister on the occasion distributed laptops among the talented university students on merit and also gave away cheques of entrepreneurship loans to youth. Governor Punjab Balighur Rehman, Caretaker Chief Minister Punjab Mohsin Naqvi, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Special Assistant to PM Atta Tarar, Vice Chancellor Bahauddin Zakariya University, Dr Muhammad Ali, and provincial government officials were present.
Shehbaz gets briefing on Nishtar-II hospital, commends CM Naqvi, team: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif here on Thursday visited the site of Nishtar-II hospital to check the status of mega tertiary healthcare project worth Rs 9450 million and praise Caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi and his team for their untiring efforts that made the OPD operational and formal completion in sight, by September 30, 2023.
Soon after his arrival at Multan International airport, the prime minister reached the Nishtar-II hospital site where he received briefing from CEO Infrastructure Development Authority of Punjab (IDAP) and was informed that the project was initiated on December 29, 2019 carrying a cost of Rs 9450 million at a spacious 456 Kanal area and so far Rs 7430 million funding had been utilized, about 79 per cent of the total cost.
PM Shehbaz Sharif commended the health secretary Punjab Ali Jan Khan, Commissioner Multan engineer Amir Khatak, IDAP CEO and all relevant department who did hard work to make another most advanced tertiary healthcare facility that would benefit people of Multan, rest of south Punjab besides nearby districts of Sindh and Balochistan.
The prime minister said, the machinery had arrived and expressed his desire for completion of the project as per the schedule. Shehbaz Sharif later told media persons that a lot space was available around the project site and added that he would talk to the chief minister to develop a medical city there.
After the briefing, the prime minister accompanying Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, Chief Minister Naqvi and others visited the Nishtar-II OPD where he talked to some patients and enquired after their health and the level of facilities being provided. MNA Ahmad Hussain Dehar, on this occasion, thanked the prime minister for providing NIshtar-II facility and described it as a gift for Multaniites. “We had lost hope that project would see the light of the day. But with your support, this project will complete soon,” he added.
Earlier before the arrival of the prime minister, Mohsin Naqvi visited the Nishtar-II, visited its different sections and reviewed the pace of progress. Foolproof security arrangements were put in place by the police on the occasion.
Premier asserts non-politicization of public welfare projects: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday directed completion of public welfare projects on priority basis and stressed that such programmes should not be politicized in the best interest of people.
Speaking during his visit to the under-construction 500-bed Nishtar Hospital II, he said the public welfare projects suffered a major set back during the tenure of previous government. The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the ongoing pace of construction work at the hospital, however regretted that the work on phase II of Nishtar Hospital was stopped during the government of Imran Khan.
He said the non-implementation of the development work affected the large population of patients in the city and adjoining areas. He expressed confidence that under the supervision of Interim Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi, the expansion of hospital would be completed by Septermber 30. The import of modern machinery will also help ensure effective implementation of the work, he added.
Will hand over govt to caretaker set-up in August: PM
