Pakistan had ‘no choice’ but to accept all strict conditions laid forth by IMF to secure a much-awaited bailout tranche: PM Shehbaz
Expresses his gratitude to Saudi Arabia & the UAE for showing what brotherhood actually is.
Prays that the country of 220 million gets rid of these shackles of IMF
Deposit of $2 biln pledged by the Kingdom would take place within next seven working days in SBP account, confirms Saudi Ambassador
Says a further $10 billion pledged by the Saudi Crown Prince will be invested in Energy & IT sectors over a period of 2 years
LAHORE ( Web News )
Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday emphasised that Pakistan has now met all “tough” conditions laid forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and now the lender has “no excuse” to delay the staff-level agreement.
PM Shehbaz Sharif, while addressing a ceremony after reviewing the construction work on the six-lane overhead bridge of Imamia Colony railways crossing Shahdra N-5, lamented that the coalition government was making all-out efforts to convince the IMF officials to release a tranche of $1.1 billion.
Acknowledging the woes of the people because of historic high inflation, the premier accepted that Pakistan had “no choice” but to accept all strict conditions laid forth by the IMF to secure a much-awaited bailout tranche from the Washington-based lender.
“Such tough conditions were set which weren’t easy for Pakistan to fulfil,” the premier said, adding that in the last one-and-a-half-month, the coalition government has made a lot of efforts.
Lavishing praises on Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Finance Minister Senaotr Mohammad Ishaq Dar, PM Shehbaz Sharif said that the federal ministers were putting in efforts to complete the last condition regarding securing financial guarantees from “key” friendly countries.
The premier added that Chief of Army Staff General Syed Asim Munir also contributed to these efforts after which Saudi Arabia and UAE committed funds.
He expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia and the UAE for showing what brotherhood actually is.
He said that China had predicted two-and-a-half-months ago that Pakistan was facing difficulties and thrones were being laid to deepen the economic crisis therefore it immediately gave approval for the $2 billion roll over.
The prime minister hoped that now Pakistan will soon reach a staff-level agreement with the Washington-based lender; however, prayed that the country of 220 million gets rid of these shackles of IMF.
He further said that there existed economic challenges but the nation would have to decide whether it would depend on foreign debts or want to stand on its feet by carving a niche among the comity of nations with honesty, dedication and hard work.
“If the chronic issues relating to load shedding, the scourge of terrorism could end, free medicines could be provided to the poor, road infrastructure could be laid, then surely, the country could move on the path of progress and prosperity”, he added.
PM Shehaz Sharif said: “Pakistan was not created to run on debts and act like beggars because their forefathers and different generations had given sacrifices for the motherland.”
PM Shehbaz furthered that the 2018 elections were rigged on a large scale.
Talking about the former ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI), he said development projects were halted during its tenure.
Speaking of the incumbent government’s free-flour scheme, the prime minister said that there was risky, but it gave relief to people. He said that around 80 to 100 million people in Punjab are benefiting from the scheme.
While talking about the Orange Line, the premier said that “our Orange Line is better than Delhi Orange Line”. “The court gave the project a clean chit,” the premier said.
PM Shehbaz also said that under the leadership of Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif, the 20-hour load shedding schedule was put an end to in 2018. However, the former government deliberately put things on the back burner.
The prime minister furthered that there existed economic challenges but the nation would have to decide whether they would live on foreign debts, or stand on their feet by carving a niche among the comity of nations with honesty, dedication and hard work.
He expressed the optimism that despite different challenges, Pakistan would be soon out of all difficulties.
“The country was not created to move on debts and act like a beggar, because its ancestors and different generations have rendered sacrifices for the motherland,” he added.
PM Shehbaz said there were economic challenges but the nation would have to decide whether they would live on foreign debts or to stand on its feet by carving a niche among the comity of nations with honesty, dedication and hard work.
The prime minister expressed the optimism that despite different challenges, Pakistan would be soon out of all difficulties.
If the chronic issue of load shedding, the scourge of terrorism could end, free medicines could be provided to the poor, road infrastructure could be laid, then surely, the country could move on the path of progress and prosperity, he added.
He said that those nations always achieved milestones that took lead with definite decisions over their future.
The country was not created to move on debts and act like beggar because their forefathers and different generations had given sacrifices for the motherland, he added.
The former premier also hit out at former chief justice Saqib Nisar for his alleged attempts to jeopardize the Orange Line Metro Train project in Lahore. He added that the ex-top judge had not pronounced the verdict in eight months of completing hearings in the case.
Earlier, the Prime Minister was given a detailed briefing about the Imamia Colony Railway Crossing Flyover project.
The Prime Minister directed to accelerate the pace of work on the project and ensure its completion within three months.
He also directed to extend the Metro Bus service to Kala Shah Kaku at the earliest.
Deposit of $2 biln pledged by the Kingdom would take place within next seven working days in SBP account, confirms Saudi Ambassador
Says a further $10 billion pledged by the Saudi Crown Prince will be invested in Energy & IT sectors over a period of 2 years
Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki has reiterated the Kingdom’s commitment to building long-term, sustainable investment transactions between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.
He gave the assurance during a meeting with Special Assistant to Prime Minister Muhammad Jawad Sohrab Malik in Islamabad.
The ambassador reiterated Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s pledge to increase Saudi Arabian investments in Pakistan’s energy and IT sectors to 10 billion dollars within the next few years.
During the meeting, Jawad expressed his gratitude for Saudi Arabia’s unwavering support to Pakistan and thanked the ambassador for confirming that the deposit of the 2 billion dollars pledged by the Kingdom would take place within the next seven working days in the SBP account.
Both parties showed a commitment to strengthening the bilateral ties between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
Highlighting the diverse business landscape in Pakistan, the SAPM expressed that Pakistan has a lot to offer in both the goods and services sectors and can immensely gain from exports to the Gulf.
He commended the Kingdom’s commitment to providing enhanced employment opportunities for the Pakistani workforce in its future development ventures.
The Saudi envoy expressed a keen interest on behalf of the Saudi government to recruit more manpower from Pakistan during the current and next year for various sectors of the kingdom.
He stated that the Saudi labor market is continuing to expand, mainly due to the launch of several mega projects under the Saudi Vision 2030.
During the meeting, both dignitaries engaged in fruitful discussions on further strengthening of bilateral business relations, recruitment of more workforce from Pakistan, and enhancing FDI in potential sectors of the economy.
Meanwhile Special Assistant to Prime Minister Muhammad Jawad Sohrab Malik has said that Pakistan would receive $2billion deposits in its central bank from Saudi Arabia “within a few days,”.
Jawad Sohrab Malik made the announcement in a tweet after he held a meeting with Saudi Ambassador to Pakistan Nawaf bin Said Al-Malki in the federal capital.
“Pakistan will receive $2 billion deposit in the SBP within a few days from KSA. A further $10 billion pledged by the Saudi Crown Prince will be invested in the Energy & IT sectors over a period of 2 years,” he wrote on Twitter.
“More crucially, large numbers of manpower from Pakistan will be engaged in the Saudi Vision 2030. Our nation owes a special gratitude to the PM @CMShehbaz for extracting Pakistan from its dire financial straits,” he added.
The special assistance also acknowledged the Saudi diplomatic and financial support for Pakistan throughout our history, especially during this critical phase.