ISLAMABAD: Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal Monday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had ruined the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the country’s economy.
“We have strengthened the economy and they damaged it,” he said during the question hour in the National Assembly on Monday while replying the number of questions. Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan on a supplementary question said that the minister of planning had given a speech, but nothing actually happened, adding that the projects of the provinces had been cut.
On that, Ahsan Iqbal said that the PMLN government had left Rs11,000 billion in the development budget in 2018 but it has reduced to Rs1,000 billion in this government. “When we left the government, the growth rate was 6 percent. As soon as they took over the government, the growth rate came down to 1 percent, and in the next year, it went negative, while in the last year, when they found out that their government was going, they took a U-turn and allowed imports, which increased the growth rate to 6 percent, but the foreign exchange reserves were depleted.”
Answering another question, the planning minister said that at present 101 PSDP projects, being sponsored and executed by various federal ministries/ departments were ongoing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with an estimated cost of Rs947.5 billion.
He said an expenditure reported on the said projects up to 30, 2024, is at Rs304.8 billion, and Rs52.4 billion has been allocated in the PSDP of FY 2024-25 for these projects, he added. He said additionally, apart from ongoing projects, a total of 20 projects in the KP with estimated cost of Rs17.9 billion, have been completed by various federal ministries/ departments over the past two years.
The minister said there was no specific share of provinces, including the AJ&K and GB, for investment in development projects by the federal government. After the 18th Amendment, the provinces got around 58.5 percent share while the Centre has only 42.5 percent share in revenue, he added.
In a reply to question of Asad Qaiser with regard to share of KP after the merger of erstwhile Fata, Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervez Malik told the National Assembly that after the merger the position remains unchanged.
He said the announcement of the new NFC award is the domain of the National Finance Commission under Article 160 of the Constitution, and the matter is already on the agenda of the NFC.
He said a sub-group under the convenorship of KP finance minister was constituted by the 9th NFC (2015-20) as well as by the 10th NFC (2020-25) exclusively to deliberate upon the development needs of erstwhile Fata but the sub-group has not submitted the recommendations to the NFC yet.
He said the Centre and provinces were asked to give 3 percent of funds and when the sub-committee gives recommendations, a decision will be taken. He said Rs500 billion related to the war against terrorism is going to the KP, adding that the amount should also be accounted for.
Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan informed the National Assembly that the ministry was in final stage to hire a company for branding and promotion of various Pakistani products abroad especially at various new markets under commerce marketing and branding mechanism.
Replying to various supplementary questions during question hour, the minister said that around 20 foreign chefs who participated at the food exhibition recently held at Karachi, also appreciated promotion of Pakistani mangoes.
He said this year mangoes’ export not only witnessed sharp increase but there also were visible difference in its value addition. He said during the current year, Pakistani mangoes were marketed across the world as mango diplomacy.
For the first time, he said all Pakistani missions organised special one or two-day events featuring mango diplomacy. However, he said that American and European countries have some certain quality compliance requirement process as these were included in perishable items.
While replying to question, Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said 20 pink buses have been allocated to provide free of cost pick and drop facilities to female students, working women, and female teachers in Islamabad.
He said the initiative of pink buses had been taken to avoid drop-outs of girl students, adding that at present there are 311 operational buses to provide pick and drop facility to the students of the federal capital.