Islamabad
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Hammad Azhar has said that due to the immediate measures of the federal government, the value of the national currency, rupee, has improved.
Addressing a press conference alongside the Punjab Minister for Industries and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal here on Sunday, Hammad Azhar said that the government took tough decision for streamlining the national economy which also improved the value of Pakistani rupee.
He said, “Government is not in favour of producing fake improvements in the national economy and its results are being witnessed day by day. During this period, the government has returned around $10.5 billion loans and the economy will further stabilize in coming days.”
The PML-N led former government looted the national exchequer and foreign exchange reserves were halved during its tenure, the Minister Economic Affairs stated.
Hammad Azhar vowed that the government will not take any step which would endanger the national economy. He clarified that all institutions of the country are on the same page whether the people will accept the fact or not. He also promised to make Pakistan among top listed countries within the next five years.
Responding to the questions raised over the increase in power tariff, he admitted that the hike was made but electricity theft of the estimated amount of Rs82 billion was also stopped. He said that more than 70 per cent of the country’s population is associated with agriculture.
While pointing towards the prominent businesspersons meeting with the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the Minister Economic Affairs said that the people should question the industrialists regarding the result of the meeting. He said all of the business personalities have admitted the fact that the present government took difficult decisions to revive the economy.
“In that meeting, the businessmen had been told that all institutions are on the same page. Moreover, the Army Chief assured them for keeping the national economy under stabilized status.”
To another question, he said that the government will not allow the seminaries’ students to be used for political tactics. Responding to another question, the minister said that India could not use the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as a political tool against Pakistan anymore.
Hammad Azhar announced that the federal authorities are ready to launch Sehat Insaf health cards from Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab as per the promise of the Prime Minister Imran Khan. The health cards will allow around 40 million Punjab citizens, approximately eight million families, to get medical facilities at private hospitals up to Rs720,000.
Speaking on the occasion, Mian Aslam Iqbal said that the provincial government will follow the instructions of the Prime Minister Imran Khan given for the Ehsaas programme.
He said that the government has also initiated schemes to provide employment. He added that a loan scheme was also announced for the students of universities. He said that the government has returned $10 billion loans with one year besides reducing current deficit up to $6.5 billion, as well as decreased Rs45 billion expenses during austerity drive. The provincial minister insisted that the government is bringing reforms to benefit the common man. He vowed that the Punjab government will continue efforts to improve the health sector in coming days.—INP
