Cabinet satisfied over positive economic indicators

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet, while discussing the ongoing political situation in the country on Tuesday, expressed satisfaction that the present positive economic indicators were a manifestation of the incumbent government's pragmatic policies.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, while chairing the cabinet meeting, observed that the reforms introduced by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would end the politics of opponents like those in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), where the party, in its last five-year rule, had brought far-reaching reforms.

The PTI was re-elected by the people by overwhelming majority, which was the first time in the province's history.

The PM's special assistant on information and broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, briefed the media about the cabinet decisions and said the meeting expressed satisfaction over the outcome of economic policies, showing positive economic indicators.

Speaking alongside the PM's climate change adviser, Malik Amin Aslam, she said the reforms process being followed by the present government was a difficult one as the beneficiaries of the old rotten system were a hurdle in its way.

PM Imran, however, assured the cabinet that the government would not back away from its reforms agenda as it was for Pakistan's development and progress, she added.

Economy was out of quagmire

Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar informed the cabinet that the indicators were proof that the economy was out of the quagmire and moving towards stability.

Dr Awan said the cabinet was told that fiscal deficit had shown a 50-percent reduction, with positive trends in foreign investment during last year. Moreover, the stock exchange had gained 1,500 points during the past three days, which proved that the business community had not taken any negative impact of the ongoing sit-in in Islamabad.

The special assistant said the circular debt was increasing by Rs10-12 billion against about Rs38 billion per month during the last regime. Pakistan’s ranking in "ease of doing business" had also improved, she added.

She said the PM gave a road-map for the next three months to various departments and ministries to achieve their targets.

PM to monitor progress

The premier also issued directions to all the ministries to make maximum efforts for completing public sector development programmes in next three months, she added, and directed to work on jobs creation and parallel empowerment strategies for the youth.

The prime minister said he himself would monitor the progress so that decisions were made on time and red-tapism was avoided. For the purpose, the prime minister would have a meeting with all the federal secretaries after cabinet meetings, she added.

The cabinet approved the waiver of passport and fee requirement for the pilgrims of Kartarpur Corridor. The visa-on-arrival facility would be given to Sikh pilgrims and other requirements were done away with.

The policy would be applicable not only for the Sikh pilgrims but also for all the foreign tourists under the revised visa regime.

Punjab-like local govt system in capital

The PM's adviser on institutional reforms, Dr Ishrat Hussain, apprised the cabinet on new local government system. The cabinet directed that Islamabad's reform process should be completed within three months and an interim arrangement would be made to introduce a Punjab-like local government system in the capital.

The cabinet expressed its reservation over the audit report of National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) presented in the meeting and issued directions for hiring services of a well-reputed firm for fresh audit.

It gave approval to the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) taken in its October 30 meeting and also accorded the approval to the appointment of Director-General (DG) of Rangers,Punjab.