Govt’s strategy successful: Economy stabilising apace, says Imran

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Monday said Pakistan’s economy was out of the woods and moving towards stability due to the government’s successful strategy amid the coronavirus pandemic coursing through the country.

He said this while chairing a meeting of the ruling party spokespersons attended by federal ministers, special assistants, party leaders and spokespersons. Imran said he was very satisfied that the economy was moving towards stability and development. He said in the era of coronavirus, when every economy in the world had been hit hard giving rise to economic problems, Pakistan had embarked on an economic journey with a successful strategy. He noted that the budget was development-oriented which was aimed at further strengthening economic stability and promoting important sectors of the economy such as agriculture, industry, housing etc.

He said the government will give a tough time to the opposition in the National Assembly during the budget session. Imran directed the party spokespersons to make the people fully aware of the public development and relief given to the common man in the budget so that the intentions of the misleading elements could be thwarted.

The meeting discussed the situation in the country, especially the public development budget presented by the government, the relief to be provided to the people and especially the steps to accelerate the process of economic development. The party leaders congratulated the prime minister and the government's economic team for presenting a balanced, people-friendly budget for all sections of the society.

Pointing out the important initiatives of the government, the prime minister said the country aimed to pay special attention to Kamyab Jawan programmes, health cards, ten billion trees tsunami, promotion of science and technology, poverty alleviation and job creation. “Challenges must be overcome effectively. The government has been trying its best to make the present budget a ray of hope for every section of the society.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan chaired a briefing on the new system to be introduced by the government to provide subsidies to the weaker sections.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen, Special Assistants Dr Sania Nishtar, Dr Waqar Masood, Dr Shahbaz Gul, President National Bank Arif Usmani and officers concerned. Special Assistant for Social Security and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar gave a detailed briefing to the prime minister on the proposed system of providing targeted subsidy. Dr. Sania said Ehsaas survey had been completed up to 92% and the work will be completed by the end of the current month. President NBP briefed the meeting on the proposed system of providing subsidy to the eligible families.

The meeting was informed that introduction of targeted subsidy system was aimed at providing financial assistance to millions of families for purchasing basic necessities. Imran appreciated the efforts to set up a system for targeted subsidies and said providing equal subsidy to the rich and the poor was not only a waste of government resources, but also a waste of the rights of the poor deserving help.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan called Chief Constable Qaiser Shakeel to the Prime Minister's House and congratulated him on performing his duties in spite of injuries while on duty.

Shakeel was injured on June 9 and returned to the duty on June 11 after a two-day medical rest. “Qaiser Shakeel's duty is an example for other government officials to follow,” he remarked.

The prime minister also chaired a high-level meeting on the ongoing corona vaccination campaign across the country and described the steps taken for the coronavirus vaccination as satisfactory.

The meeting was attended by Federal Ministers Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Asad Umar, Hammad Azhar, Azam Khan Swati, Special Assistants Dr Faisal Sultan, Muhammad Shehzad Arbab and senior officials concerned.

Imran said voluntary vaccination in Pakistan was a welcome step, which was rarely seen in developed countries. “To avoid a tragic situation like in India, the institutions and the people must work together to ensure that measures are taken to prevent it,” he emphasised.

The meeting was given a detailed briefing by the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) on the current indicators of the vaccination campaign and future strategy. The meeting was informed that so far more than 10 million people had been vaccinated which was a significant milestone in a limited time.

In addition, the government, semi-government and private companies are ensuring vaccination to 100% of their employees. For this, not only the capacity of existing vaccine centers is being enhanced, but also the formation of mobile vaccination teams is in the final stages. It was informed that more than 50% of government and non-government employees had been vaccinated under the Ministry of Education. The meeting was also informed that the number of vaccination centers had been doubled and the number of mobile teams increased from 48 to 600.