NEW YORK: Federal Minister for Information, Broadcasting, National Heritage and Culture Attaullah Tarar has said that stringent measures and prudent policies of the government have resulted in stability in the economy.
Addressing a press conference in New York, he said that due to steps of the present regime, inflation and prices of daily use commodities had fallen considerably.
“A certain political party wanted the economy to default but the government took steps to avert such a situation,” the minister said.
He said that the inflation ratio has decreased significantly as compared to the same period last year and now it has come down to single digit, which is a good sign, the official news agency reported.
Tarar said that the smuggling of dollars has been stopped by taking stringent measures and information technology sector-related exports have increased significantly.
The economic stability of Pakistan was being acknowledged at the international level as well, he said. Moody’s and Fitch also declared Pakistan’s economy stable whereas Bloomberg described the Pakistani economic indicators as positive.
“According to a Bloomberg survey, Pakistan’s stock exchange is moving in a positive direction,” he maintained.
The arrival of record remittances from overseas Pakistanis was also a good omen, he remarked.
The agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the minister said, would make the economy more stable.
The minister said that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan also praised Pakistan’s step towards economic stability.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held meetings with the heads of various countries on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.
The determination of the development of Bangladesh and Pakistan relations was reiterated during the PM’s meeting with Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus in New York.
To a question, Tarar said it would be a pleasure for the prime minister to invite Dr Yunus, who is an intelligent and visionary leader, to visit Pakistan.
He said due to floods Pakistan had to face a lot of financial and human losses as it suffered a lot due to the adverse effects of climate change.
He said Pakistan had given sacrifice of more than 80 thousand lives in the war against terrorism and its economy lost billions of dollars due to the scourge of terrorism. Under the National Action Plan, various measures have been taken to root out terrorism from the soil of the motherland, he said.
He said peace has been restored in the mega city of Karachi and other areas with the efforts of the government.
About the situation in Palestine, he said the prime minister has taken up the matter at every international forum.
“Pakistan has clearly stated that Israel was committing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza for which it should be held accountable.”
The international community should show solidarity with the helpless people of Palestine and hold Israel accountable for its war crimes in the Gaza region. He said that the Palestinian leadership had acknowledged Pakistan’s support at all forums and Islamabad would continue to support Palestinians in every possible way.
He said that more measures will be taken for the education of Palestinian students in Pakistan. “Pakistan is standing with and will continue to stand with the Palestinians,” he added.
The minister reiterated that the government was fully committed to Quaid-i-Azam’s policy of not recognising Israel.
Tarar also strongly condemned the Israeli attacks on Lebanon.
He said Pakistan was desirous of improvement in relations with neighbouring brotherly country Iran.
The minister termed overseas Pakistanis as valuable assets of the nation and the government attaches high importance to their suggestions.
Protecting Pakistan’s interest was the topmost priority of the government and efforts of a certain political party to spread anarchy and chaos would be foiled, he said. “Pakistan Muslim League-N does not believe in politics of hatred and anarchy.”
To a question, the information minister said that the government was taking steps to provide relief to people and both the federal and Punjab governments have provided subsidy on electricity.
Compared to last year, the prices of food items and petroleum products have decreased, the information minister said.
The minister said Pakistan and United States have good relations, which would further improve.
Tarar said that digitisation and reforms were being done in the Federal Bureau of Revenue which would help improve its performance.
He said that Karachi’s contribution to the economy was gigantic and steps were afoot to resolve its problems.
About independent power producers, he said a task force has been set up to review their contracts. He reminded that it was the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz which ended electricity load shedding on an emergency basis after coming in to power in 2013.
He said ‘Google’ had assured to increase its investment in Pakistan and manufacture Chromebooks.
Smartphones for all projects were under consideration and Huawei has agreed to increase investment and it will provide training to 300,000 students in Pakistan.
In the meeting with Bill Gates, he said, more measures were discussed for the improvement of the IT sector in Pakistan.
PML-N’s priority was not politics, the interest of the state was foremost for it, the minister said.
Answering another question, he said Pakistan wanted good relations with Afghanistan, but any country’s territory should not be used against Pakistan.
He said it was the prerogative of the parliament to amend the constitution. “Constitutional courts exist in many countries of the world which take up cases related to the constitution.”
“The parliament has the power to rewrite or amend the constitution,” he maintained.
The minister said that Pakistan’s embassies and consulates all over the world have been given strict instructions to solve the problems of the Pakistani community in their respective countries.
To a question, he said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had broken the windows of vehicles with a Kalashnikov in Lahore. He said that the Punjab government in the past had offered support for counter-terrorism measures in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Commenting on the policies of the PTI, he said that politics should not be against the state.
He remarked that in this age of digital media, steps were necessary to counter false information and fake news on social media.
He said that the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was established to promote investment in the country and after its establishment, investment in Pakistan has become easier for foreign investors.
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