New initiatives taken to improve living standard of people: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Monday that the government has undertaken several new initiatives to ensure equitable growth and to improve the standard of living of the people. This he said while talking to Industries and Production Minister Jehangir Khan Tareen, who called on him here at the PM House.
He said that due to the improved financial position of the country several new initiatives were taken so as to create more jobs, increase the income and improve the quality of life of the people. These included lining of water-courses, development of dairy sector, improving rural income and promoting small and medium enterprises.
He said that all these would have a positive impact in remote and low-income areas, and added that the strategy was to empower the people and transfer the benefits of economic growth to all segments of society.
The Prime Minister also discussed with Tareen the issue of inflow of new investments in the manufacturing sector which would result in increasing production, help in growing the middle class and creating demand for products across a broad spectrum. He told the Minster: "We need to redouble efforts to implement the SMEs policy to reduce the hassle factor so that small and medium enterprises can function without interference and impediments."
The Prime Minister said that SMEs represent a major opportunity for growth and jobs' creation and it would continue to receive the highest attention and support from the government.
Banks are also being encouraged to finance the SMEs to provide the much-needed capital so that they can retool, expand and increase production to meet the growing demand of the domestic and foreign markets, he added. The Industries Minister updated the Prime Minister about the expansion plan of Utility Stores Corporation whose outlets number has been increased to 2900.
He also apprised the PM of the various initiatives undertaken by the government, including setting up of daily bazaars, appointments of Price Magistrates, increasing the numbers of utility stores outlets and release of buffer stocks to ensure stability of prices during Ramazan. The Prime Minister appreciated the efforts by the Ministry to reduce the prices of essential items and the steps taken to promote the industrial sector.