Key decisions taken to reduce electricity prices, minimise power theft: PM
Pakistan
Says the macroeconomic indicators are improving
- Elements involved in corruption, criminal negligence will be held accountable
- Government has decided in principle to divest distribution companies
- Track and Trace System agreement was fraud
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) - Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday the government was pursuing agenda of economic reforms in the country and the elements involved in deep-rooted menace of corruption and criminal negligence would be held accountable.
He was chairing a meeting of federal cabinet at the PM House on Friday.
Referring to the track and trace system agreement made in 2019, the prime minister said this system was nothing but a cruel joke to the nation as no improvement was seen in the sectors of tobacco, cement, sugar and fertiliser.
He said the agreement was totally a fraud as even no penalty clause was included in it. He said he had ordered to form an inquiry committee which would present its report within 72 hours.
Prime Minister Sharif said the government was rigorously pursuing the agenda of economic reforms to steer the country out of prevailing challenges. He said the reports of international financial institutions and journals showing positive and upward trajectory about Pakistan's economy was a testimony to the prudent policies of the government.
The prime minister said country's IT exports had been recorded at all-time high, foreign remittances and overall exports of the country had also witnessed surge and credit of all this goes to the sitting government.
He said foreign investment from friendly countries including Saudi Arabia was also increasing, which would have positive impact on country's economy.
As regards the macroeconomic indicators, the prime minister expressed satisfaction over the collective performance of both incumbent and the interim governments.
He said according to a recently published report on Pakistan economy, many indicators including IT export, remittances, and capital market were showing positive results due to prudent policies of the government.
However, he maintained, a lot of work needed to be done. The government will perform ‘major surgical operation’ to get rid of the deep-rooted flaws in the country’s economy, he added.
PM Sharif said he had completed the power sector review in four phases in which important decisions were taken to minimise power theft and line losses, and to reduce prices of electricity. Besides, he said, the government had also decided in principle to divest the distribution companies (DISCOs).
He said the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) had obsolete systems which needed to be replaced to increase the tax-to-GDP ratio. He pointed out that the FBR had the potential to earn extra revenue worth hundreds of billions of rupees by implementing reforms in its system.
“We have to take tough decisions in larger interest of the country and we will fully monitor the implementation phase,” the prime minister remarked.
As regards privatisation of the state-owned entities (SOEs), the prime minister assured that the process would be done without delay and in a transparent manner.
