ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday held a meeting with hiseconomic team to discuss the country’s economic situation and to prepare acomprehensive economic roadmap for further improvement.
The meeting, which lasted for three hours, was attended by Adviser to PM onFinance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Planning and Development Minister KhusroBakhtiar and Adviser on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, a statement issued bythe PM Office read.
Talking to media after the meeting, Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said today’smeeting had three main objectives; assessment of economic progress,performance review of important ministries, including planning, commerce,agriculture, revenue and industry, and preparation of a focused developmentroadmap.
He said the government wants to expedite work on all the major developmentprojects with a focus on economic stability. “The government has allocatedabout Rs950 billion in the budget for the development programme, executionof which would help create employment opportunities in the country,” headded.
The prime minister had directed that all the major projects should bemonitored on a continuous basis so that their benefits could be passed onto the masses, the adviser informed.
He said the government has also earmarked Rs192 billion for the weakersegments of society, adding that cash transfers like Sehat Insaf cards andother relevant programmes should be accelerated to make the people realizethat the government was taking all possible efforts for their economicuplift.
Besides financial facilities, the government has also kept Rs262 billionfor the provision of subsidies to the weaker segments from the burden ofcost of electricity and other items, and help the business community aswell in reducing their costs.
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“All the steps are being taken with a public-focused approach and toincrease the confidence of the business community,” he maintained.
The adviser said owing to the prudent policies of the government, thecountry is now witnessing positive developments on the economic front, withthe stock market gaining 9pc during the last week.
After a long time, he said, the country’s exports registered an increase inthe month of July. The export sector is doing far better than thecorresponding year, he added.
Dr Hafeez Shaikh noted that the current account deficit gap between exportsand imports has witnessed a marked reduction. The current account deficit,which stood around $2.1 billion in July last year had now reduced to below$600 million.
He said a comprehensive roadmap for economic development is being prepared,wherein the decisions with regard to increasing the performance of relevantministries would be taken.
