No need to panic as IMF deal soon: Shehbaz

LAHORE: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Sunday expressed the hope that Pakistan would strike an agreement with the IMF in June and asked the nation not to worry in this regard.

Speaking in a ceremony at the Sabzazar Sports Complex here, the prime minister said the government had met all the IMF conditions with sincerity.

The premier said he had had a long conversation with the IMF chief and committed to meeting all conditions for the loan and providing the required budget information.

Shehbaz said Pakistanis were a vibrant nation capable of meeting all the coming economic challenges in case of any further delay in the IMF programme.

He said despite all the economic difficulties, the federal government raised the salaries of employees by 30 to 35 per cent, increased pension by 17 per cent and minimum wage from Rs25,000 to Rs32,000.

“The government is aware of the economic difficulties of the poor people,” he added.

He said major funds were allocated for the sectors of agriculture and information technology in the federal budget presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, adding that the budget would provide relief to the common man and create jobs.

The prime minister said he assumed the government in April 2022 amid very tough economic conditions.

Last year, the government of Imran Niazi broke the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the coalition government had to face the challenge of rising commodity and oil prices in the international market. Then it spent huge funds for the relief and rehabilitation of people affected by the devastating funds, he mentioned.

The government had to seek help from friendly countries to overcome the economic challenges, he continued.

Shehbaz said the government of Imran Niazi showed negligence and did not buy gas when its prices were very low in the international market during the Covid pandemic.

“Imran Niazi did nothing for the people but wasted all his time in waging a vendetta against opposition leaders,” he added.

He said Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, Hamza Shehbaz and other leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) were put in jails and the opposition was pushed to the wall.

Shehbaz said economic stability was not possible without political stability and vowed to put Pakistan on the path of greater progress and prosperity under the dynamic leadership of Nawaz Sharif.

He said the incidents of May 9 were acts of hostility against the nation, adding the military installations were attacked and Jinnah House was burned down on the instigation of Imran Niazi.

He asserted that law would take its course and all those responsible for the incident of May 9 would be punished, so that these crimes could not be repeated again.

However, he promised that innocent would be treated fairly and with justice.

The PM said in 2017, as a servant of Punjab province, he started work on a plan for establishing 14 state-of-the-art sports complexes but the fascist government of Imran Niazi stopped the project after the stolen elections of 2018.

The proposed sports complexes included swimming pools, gymnasiums, badminton and squash courts.

He recalled that the PMLN leadership was put in jail for initiating huge public welfare projects, including projects of clean drinking water and solid waste management in cities.

In the four years of the previous government, work on development projects, including the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were stopped, he said, adding that the government led by Nawaz Sharif in its tenure eliminated power outages, constructed a network of roads across Pakistan and carried out monumental development projects.

He said today he was inaugurating the first of the 14 sports complexes from which talented youth will benefit free of charge.

The sports complex would have separate facilities for boys and girls and 50 percent of the membership would be free, while the other half of members would be charged to meet the operational costs of the complex.

Responding to a question, he said they had been passing through difficult challenges, as prices had sky-rocketed due to inflation, while floods had displaced 33 million people and washed away crops and infrastructure causing around $30 billion loss to the state kitty.

Still, he reiterated that the people of Pakistan were strong and facing these challenges. He expressed optimism that the nation would negotiate through these challenges with joint efforts.

The prime minister, to another question, maintained that the coalition government had successfully galvanized the international community after floods last year and arranged Geneva donors conference where the intentional community made pledges, thus saving the country from serious dangers of default.

“The previous government reneged on its agreement with the International Monetary Fund that led to a very serious economic situation. The coalition government negotiated with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Pakistan got out of the grey list. The credit goes to the coalition government, which was a big achievement,” he added.

The prime minister said that despite these challenges, they were focused on improving the economy and cited recent wheat and cotton crop yields.

He further said the Indian atrocities and the sacrifices of Kashmiri people were known to the entire world. India was adamant and had a hegemonic attitude, he said.

The premier said it was a high time for the world to resolve the Kashmir issue as per the UN Security Council resolutions and aspirations of the Kashmiri people. “Unless, the issue was resolved, peace could not return. Only holding of peaceful talks is the way forward for peaceful resolution of the issue,” he said, adding that both the countries needed to feed and create jobs for their population and eliminate poverty by spending their resources on these areas.

To a question, the prime minister maintained that they had formed a committee to hold talks with the PTI and reach a peaceful settlement on the nationwide elections. The committees agreed but Imran Khan refused.

The prime minister said that the current National Assembly would complete its tenure after which elections would be held on time to strengthen democracy.

The Election Commission of Pakistan would decide about holding of polls and they would follow its instructions, he added.

The premier also dispelled the allegations over provincial hegemony and said the Punjab province always acted like an elder brother of the three other provinces. “They contributed and shared their bounties and sufferings together,” he continued.

Referring to May 9 vandalism, the prime minister said that PTI chief Imran Khan was arrested on serious corruption and graft charges.

“During the PTI’s tenure, Imran sent all the political leaders behind bars on false allegations but they did not protest in this manner,” the prime minister said.

“His bunch of thugs acted on his instructions to attack vital institutions, including the military installations,” Shehbaz said, adding that if a serious crime was committed, the law would take its course.

To a query, Shehbaz replied that he had brought mangoes as gift to President Erdogan and his spouse. As it was the start of mango season in Pakistan, he had brought Sindhri variety which was a very sweet one and full of aroma.

He said the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) had also advised exchange of gifts to bring more affection.