PTI chief’s politics damaged economy: PM

LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday spent a busy day in Lahore and held meetings with former parliamentarians of his party.

He also made a tweet, accusing the PTI chairman of causing political instability in the country, which damaged the economy. He said it was a difficult task to prepare the budget for the new fiscal, keeping in mind the challenges arising from the post-flood rehabilitation, disruptions in the global supply chain and geostrategic changes.

He said the political instability created by Imran caused irreparable damage to the country’s economy. The recent budget is the beginning of dealing with the challenges and crises faced by the economy. He said the coalition government gave priority to the economy.

Considering the effects of inflation, the government has provided relief to government employees and pensioners by increasing their salaries. The economy is in dire need of reforms, economic development is directly related to political stability and the Charter of Economy is the only way forward for public prosperity.

The prime minister also commended all those who remained a part of this exercise and played their role in the budget-making exercise.

Meanwhile, Shehbaz held a telephonic conversation with President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan. He said Pakistan valued its bilateral relations with Kazakhstan. Highlighting the importance of increasing tourism and enhancing people-to-people contacts, the prime minister expressed satisfaction that flight operations between the two countries would commence soon.

Characterising Pakistan as an important country in the region, the president of Kazakhstan expressed his country’s desire to strengthen their long-standing bilateral ties. The two leaders agreed on the need to further expand bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture, IT, textile and energy. Shehbaz invited the Kazakh president to pay an official visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience.

Later, the PM met former MNAs Marghoob Ahmad, Mujtaba Shujaur Rehman, Ghulam Abbas, Abdul Ghaffar and former MPA Mehwish Sultana. He also met Chairman Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) Hafiz Nauman, who briefed him on the implementation of Prime Minister’s Solarisation Project.