DEBRIS, ECONOMIC LANDMINES LAID BY PTI REGIME CLEARED: Interim set-up in Aug

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said despite challenges and conspiracies hatched by the political opponents, the coalition government had successfully managed to put the country in the right direction in the shortest period. The prime minister, in his over 14-minute address to the nation, said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme agreed by the previous government on the toughest conditions, was the biggest obstacle in the way of the country’s economic revival. The last regime had brought the country to the brink of default by deviating from that agreement, he added. He said ironically, the political opponents remained busy in hatching conspiracies and creating hurdles while the coalition government was trying to resume the programme. The incumbent government had to face the biggest challenges and conspiracies in Pakistan’s democratic history in the shortest period, and steered it out of the deep crisis, he added. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the coalition government was going to end in August on completing its tenure and would hand over the reins to the caretaker set-up. “During the short period of one and a quarter years, due to our collective wisdom and prudent policies, we cleared the debris and economic landmines laid by the previous government,” he added. He said the period of his government was a journey of moving from the destruction towards construction, economic stability, helping the flood affected people, providing maximum employment to the jobless and relief to the people hit by inflation, and revival of freedom of speech, media freedom and national integration. He said the coalition parties sacrificed their politics for saving the country from default by taking the toughest decisions. “We always remained worried about increasing the foreign exchange reserves instead of thinking about our vote banks.R21; The prime minister said despite anti-state conspiracies, the government did not lose its heart and succeeded to reach a staff level agreement with the IMF. “Today on behalf of the whole nation, I sincerely thank friendly and brotherly countries China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, which once again supported Pakistan with sincerity under very difficult situation and that can never be forgotten,” he added. He said the way, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman and UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan played their role in bringing Pakistan out of the crisis, was praiseworthy. The prime minister also acknowledged the efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on the diplomatic front. Similarly, he also appreciated Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Chief of the Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir for their untiring efforts to help stabilize the economy. Now, he said, the time had come to regain the country’s lost glory by moving forward with collective wisdom and struggle. For that purpose, he added, a comprehensive national plan of economic revival had been finalized. The Special Investment Facilitation Council had been set up, which had initiated its work and was paving the way for big investments from the Gulf countries in various fields including agriculture, industry, energy, IT, defence production and minerals, he said. PM Shehbaz also assured the nation that on this national agenda, the federal government, all the provincial governments, and the armed forces were adopting the whole of the government approach to make it a success. Expressing satisfaction over the overall economic situation, the prime minister said the trust of the business and investment communities was also reviving while the international rating agency Fitch had also improved Pakistan’s rating to triple C. Similarly, he said, the United Nation’s Human Rights Council had also testified the improving situation of human rights in Pakistan whereas the country had also showed improvement by seven points in the International Freedom Index. Shehbaz Sharif said when the staff level agreement with the IMF was announced on June 30, the investors expressed their full satisfaction through the Stock Exchange Market as the KSE-100 index jumped by record 2446 points in a single day. Now the Stock Exchange had crossed the 45,000 points level which was the highest in 14 months, he said adding that the value of Pakistani Rupee was also improving. The prime minister said the Rs 1,150 billion historical development budget, Rs 2,000 billion agriculture development fund under Kissan Package, conversion of agriculture tube wells to solar energy, Rs 80 billion Prime Minister Youth Programme, interest-free and concessional loans in agriculture industry, IT and other sectors, provision of laptops to the talented students, educational scholarships, women empowerment, special scholarships to families of martyrs, and timely completion of infrastructural projects were few of the achievements of the incumbent government. Resolving to break the begging bowl, he asked the youth to come forward to take the country to new heights of development and prosperity.