ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has clarified that legislation related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is necessary for Pakistan and no NRO will be given in return for legislation in the national interest.
He was addressing a meeting of the PTI parliamentary party here Thursday. Addressing the members, he said that the government is correcting the mistakes of the past while the opposition is using the forum of Parliament to save its politics. Imran Khan said that the opposition has tried to obstruct every legislation. He said the opposition will get tough time and the government won’t come in their blackmailing.
The prime minister directed the MPs to give tough time to the opposition and said that they would not be blackmailed. He said the opposition demands NRO which will not be granted at any cost. He said PTI will not back down from its manifesto.
He said the government would have passed all the bills from the joint sitting of the Parliament had the opposition not extended cooperation in this regard. Meanwhile, prime minister said while chairing the weekly meeting of National Coordination Committee (NCC) for Housing, Construction and Development that development of construction sector could play a key role in minimizing the impact of pandemic on national economy through job creation.
The prime minister said the government was providing all possible facilities for development of construction sector and urged upon the business community to take full advantage of the opportunity by making investment.
The meeting reviewed in detail the progress made by the government in construction sector along with the incentives announced for its promotion. Thirteen representatives of Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) in the meeting pledged to initiate various projects in next three to four months, which would result in economic activity of Rs1,370 billion. The projects include construction of about 100,000 residential units.
The prime minister expressed satisfaction over the assurance given by ABAD to take full advantage of the concessions given to the construction sector and to start economic activities worth billions of rupees.
Business community, he emphasised, should invest in construction sector and the government was committed to extending all possible cooperation on this count. The prime minister said that the construction sector should be promoted to eliminate the negative effects of the coronavirus on the national economy, accelerate the economic process and bring jobs, especially to the youth and fulfil the dream of the poor.
Meanwhile, chairing a meeting to review the reforms process in the power sector, the prime minister said transformation was inevitable for country’s economic stability. Imran Khan said it was intolerable and unacceptable to make people take the brunt of mismanagement, theft and corruption in the power sector.
The prime minister was briefed on the ongoing reforms process, power supply and demand, modernisation of transmission system, reforms in gas sector and efforts for resolution of other chronic issues. The prime minister directed the ministry concerned to furnish an action plan for implementation of the reforms process as per the stipulated time frame. He also instructed for strict action against the corrupt elements in gas and power departments creating unnecessary difficulties for the consumers.
