ISLAMABAD/ MULTAN: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that 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 year, due to our collective wisdom and prudent policies, we cleared the debris and economic landmines laid by the previous government,” he said in his televised address to the nation.
The United States, meanwhile, also expressed solidarity with Pakistan with Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeting: “We stand by the Pakistani people during these hard times and welcome the International Monetary Fund’s approval of a program to support Pakistan. We urge Pakistan to continue working with IMF toward macroeconomic reforms and sustainable economic recovery.”In his address, Prime Minister Shehbaz said that despite challenges and conspiracies hatched by the political opponents, the coalition government had successfully managed to put the country in the right direction and cleared the mess of four years in 15 months. “We cleared the mess of four years in 15 months and doused the fire that had engulfed the national economy and foreign relations front,” the prime minister in his televised address to the nation said.
Shehbaz added that in their 15 months in power, the coalition government saved the state, not politics. 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,” he said.
In his address, which could be the farewell address, the prime minister said the IMF programme, agreed by the previous government on the toughest conditions, was the biggest obstacle in the way of economic revival. He said the last government had brought the country to the brink of default by deviating from that agreement.
He said ironically, the political opponents remained busy hatching conspiracies and creating hurdles while the coalition government was trying to revive the programme, adding that 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.
The prime minister said despite anti-state conspiracies, the government continued its efforts and succeeded to reach a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said when the staff-level agreement with the IMF was announced on June 30, investors expressed their full satisfaction through the stock exchange market as the KSE-100 index jumped by record 2,446 points in a single day. Now, he said, the stock exchange had crossed the 45,000 points level, which was the highest in 14 months, adding that the value of Pakistani Rupee was also improving.
“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 a very difficult situation and that can never be forgotten,” he added.
He acknowledged that the way, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed 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 stabilise the economy.
“The Special Investment Facilitation Council has 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. |
Shehbaz also assured the nation that on this national agenda, the federal government, the provincial governments and the armed forces were adopting the whole of the government approach to make it a success.
Meanwhile, in his address at the PM Youth Loan and Laptop Scheme event in Multan at the Bahauddin Zakariya University, the prime minister said the deal inked with the 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 to rejoice, but to assess the state of affairs as to how the country has become dependent on loans and foreign grants,” he said.
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 emphasised a united approach by all segments of the country, including the government, 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.
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 fewer 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 meagre 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 the number of laptops for students by 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. Shehbaz on the occasion distributed laptops among the talented university students on merit and also gave away cheques of entrepreneurship loans to youth.
Separately, during his visit to the under-construction 500-bed Nishtar Hospital II, the prime minister directed completion of public welfare projects on priority basis and stressed that such programmes should not be politicised in the best interest of people. He said the public welfare projects suffered a major setback during the tenure of the previous government.
Earlier, Shehbaz checked the status of the mega tertiary healthcare project worth Rs9,450 million and praised the Punjab caretaker chief minister and his team for their untiring efforts that made the OPD operational and formal completion in sight, by September 30.
The Infrastructure Development Authority of Punjab (IDAP) CEO informed the prime minister that the project was initiated on December 29, 2019 carrying a cost of Rs9,450 million at a spacious 456 Kanal area and so far Rs7,430 million funding had been utilised. The prime minister said the machinery had arrived and expressed his desire for completion of the project as per the schedule.
Meanwhile, Senator Irfan Siddiqui called on PM Shahbaz at the Prime Minister’s House. During the meeting, a comprehensive discussion took place on political situation in the country in wake of coming elections, says a statement.