Achi news desk-
Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that those involved in the root menace of corruption and criminal negligence for harming the national economy will be held accountable.
Referring to the surveillance and monitoring system agreement made in 2019, the prime minister said that this system is nothing but a cruel joke to the nation as no improvement is seen in the tobacco, cement, sugar and fertilizer sectors.
According to him, the agreement was completely fraudulent as it did not even include a penalty clause.
At the cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s house, he said that he had ordered the establishment of an investigative committee on this issue that would submit its report within 72 hours.
Regarding the macroeconomic indicators, the Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the collective performance of both the incumbent and interim governments. According to him, according to a recent report on the economy of Pakistan, many indicators including IT exports, remittances, capital market have shown positive results due to the wise policies of the government.
However, he argued that a lot of work needed to be done. The government will carry out a ‘major surgical operation’ to get rid of the root defects in the country’s economy, he added.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that he completed the review of the electricity sector in four stages in which important decisions were made to reduce electricity theft and loss of lines and to reduce electricity prices. Besides, he said that the government has also decided in principle to sell the distribution companies (DISCOs).
He said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has old and outdated systems that need to be replaced to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio. He pointed out that the FBR has the potential to earn additional revenue worth hundreds of billions of rupees by implementing reforms in its system.
“We must make tough decisions in the greater interest of the country and we will follow the implementation phase fully,” said the Prime Minister.
Regarding the privatization of the state-owned entities (SOEs), the Prime Minister promised that the process will be done without delay and transparently.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed on Friday the establishment of a committee to consult with the provinces to determine policy on guiding principles for carbon credits.
He chaired the third meeting of the Pakistan Climate Change Council.
The federal and provincial governments will work together to create policies regarding climate change, he said.
“Our challenges regarding climate change are increasing with each passing day,” he said, adding without consultation with the provinces, there was no question of making any kind of policy on the matter.
The participants discussed in detail the policy guidelines for foreign trading of carbon credits. He ordered that a draft policy should be presented at the next council meeting after consultation with the districts.
The chief ministers of the four provinces expressed their position regarding policy making and gave recommendations.
The Prime Minister ordered that the provinces and other stakeholders should be taken into account regarding the important draft policy on climate change.
According to him, Pakistan is one of the countries that have suffered badly from the negative effects of climate change. It was badly affected by the rains in 2022 and the floods caused by them.
As a servant of Pakistan, he said, he worked for the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims and fought Pakistan’s case all over the world on climate change.
According to him, Ahsan Iqbal and Shri Rehman and all relevant institutions and ministries have taken important steps to bring Pakistan out of that difficult period and build infrastructure in the country regarding climate change.
He said that he and the Pakistani nation are thankful to the friendly countries and the international community, especially the UN Secretary General for coming to the aid of the affected Pakistanis.
The meeting was attended by federal ministers, including Ishaq Dar, Ahed Cheema, Muhammad Aurangzeb and Sardar Owais Khan Leghari, Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Climate Change Rumina Khurshid Alam, high-level officers and experts from the public and private sectors.
Chief Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir and chief ministers of provinces including Gilgit-Baltistan participated in the meeting through video link.
Meanwhile, the incumbent government introduced changes to the Special Professional Pay Scale (SPPS) policy under which Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif decided to transfer some of his powers to ministries/divisions to ensure rapid recruitment of talented professionals, according to the establishment. division.
In this context, the Establishment Division rejected a news item published in the press section titled “Powers of the Prime Minister to make key appointments drawn up by the Cabinet” and termed it as giving an impression that is “completely wrong and out of place.”-APP
