ISLAMABAD – The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said that PrimeMinister Imran Khan will make Pakistan a respected and developed countryand not compromise on national interest.

Masses should reject the propaganda of elements rejected in the recentelection and cooperate with the government, it said.

Masses should understand that countries cannot remain dependent on loansand changing the rotten system will take time, said PEW Chairman Brigadier(r) Muhammad Aslam Khan. He added that people should not panic and rememberthe example of South Korea and other countries which overwhelmed theirdifficulties with the cooperation of the masses.

Muhammad Aslam Khan said that politicians and bureaucracy have lootedPakistan for decades, therefore, masses were not ready to believe anything.

“Now the situation has changed for good, but the government will have totake difficult decisions that would be painful for people but necessaryunder international commitments to get out of the current severe economicsituation,” he observed.

He lauded the stance of the government of not compromising on nationalsecurity and the PTI government would not opt for an IMF programme ifconditionalities are against the national interests.

Dr Murtaza Mughal said that IMF programme was inevitable in the givencircumstances when export competitiveness had been destroyed and debtprofile aggravated over the past five years, he noted.

IMF programme would be a helping hand for the government to gradually sailthrough the tough economic circumstances.