ISLAMABAD – Federal Cabinet has affirmed that positive impacts ofimprovement in economic indicators will be passed on to public.
The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan was held inIslamabad today. Briefing newsmen on cabinet meeting in Islamabad SpecialAssistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan saidAdvisor on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh apprised the cabinet of improvement ineconomic indicators, the government’s policies leading to encouragingeconomic results and the problems faced by common people and strategies toresolve them.
He also informed the meeting of not only successful achieving the targetsbut also surpassing them in first quarter of this financial year in theareas of revenue collection, taxes, industrialization, export orientedstrategy, foreign reserves, remittances, economic stability and inflation.
The Finance Advisor further informed the meeting that due to turnaround ofeconomy, the ultimate beneficiaries will be people of Pakistan.
The Prime Minister appreciated the improvement in economic indicators andperformance of the economic team and also directed to disseminateinformation to public regarding these positive impacts.
She said Pakistan’s economic policies have restored the confidence ofinternational financial institutions including the IMF.
The Prime Minister once again directed all provincial governments toexpedite measures to control inflation and prices of essential items. Theperformance of the provincial governments will be measured in how muchreduction in prices their actions have brought so far.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the Prime Minister directed to ensure thatessential items are available at the network of Utility Stores Corporationof Pakistan, for which the six billion rupees have been already released.She said the technology will be utilized to overcome corruption andperformance issues in USC.
The Prime Minister also gave directions to the cabinet that all cabinetmembers must take responsibility of the performance of their respectiveministries. If there is any issue, it will be the responsibility of therespective minister. The Ministers will take their decisions on fast trackbasis.
She said the cabinet was apprised of key projects under CPEC includingML-1, airport, and other infrastructure that were discussed in the recentJCC meeting with Chinese counterparts.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the cabinet was informed that 1594 Pakistaniprisoners from Saudi Arabia and 345 from Malaysia have returned to thecountry after serving their sentences due to special efforts made by PrimeMinister.
The cabinet expressed displeasure over a news reports carried by a sectionof media regarding inquiry commission to probe debt accumulated by previousgovernments. The said report was based on wrong statistics and fabricatedfacts.
Read Top Stories
The Special Assistant said Law Minister Dr. Farogh Naseem apprised themeeting on developments taking place in the matter of treatment abroad offormer Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
The cabinet discussed the issue at length. She said there was a consensusin the meeting that treatment abroad of Nawaz Sharif is a humanitarianissue and there should be no politics on it. The government will not createany hurdle in this.
However, the meeting was of the view that the former Prime Minister shouldbe bound with certain guarantees, sureties and indemnity bonds for hisreturn after completion of the treatment.
Replying to a question, the Special Assistant said the Prime Ministerexpressed displeasure over shortage and inflation of certain perishablefood items.
She said the Prime Minister directed to devise a mechanism in which thereis advance knowledge of perishable food items that could face shortage.
Firdous Ashiq Awan expressed the hope that there will not be shortage offood items in future. She told a questioner that increasing frustration ofprotest marchers indicates that they have entered into a close alley.
Meanwhile, Federal Cabinet approved the proposal of “Ehsaas Governance andIntegrity Observatory” and “Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy”.
In a statement, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on SocialProtection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar said the policy isbinding on the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division and itsancillary organizations.
She said the policy is meant to address institutionalize corruption andcollusion in social welfare organizations.
The policy also outlines that by the end of four years, Poverty Alleviationand Social Safety Division will strive to use blockchain technology toensure data transparency.
