Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said that the government was determined to implement a comprehensive reforms agenda to steer the country out of economic and administrative challenges.
Addressing a ceremony at a local hotel on Sunday, he said the country's debts had risen to 28 trillion rupees due to bad economic policies of the previous regimes, adding that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government had decided to utilise the dead assets of the loss-making national institutions like the PIA, Pakistan Steel Mills, Radio and Pakistan Railways to generate funds.
The information minister said if the PTI government resorted to foreign loans, the country's foreign debts would soar to 40 trillion rupees, adding that the government had invited Saudi Arabia and other countries to invest in Pakistan.
He said the government assigned the best economists and technocrats the task of restoring the country's economy and stemming the rot in administrative affairs.
Fawad Chaudhry said the PTI government was working for a true change in the country and the austerity drive was part of the government's mission to save the taxpayers' money from misuse and misappropriation.
The information minister said Prime Minister Imran khan believed in leading from the front, adding that he had decided to live in a three-bedroom staff colony house as the prime minister is a symbol of simplicity. "PM Imran Khan declined 1,100-kanal majestic Prime Minister's House residence and set an example for masses to adopt austerity," he added.
Fawad said PM Imran Khan had emerged as a leader of the middle class in the country, adding that the middle class wanted to get rid of exploitative system, as they are dissatisfied with the prevalent system, and the PTI government was struggling to change it.
The information minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had full faith in his team, adding that the government was working to bring about a real change in society. The information minister said it was an irony that the poor had no money to buy medicines while the ruling elites were leading a royal lifestyle living in luxurious houses and spending millions from the taxpayers' money. However, the PTI government had reduced the expenditure incurred on the upkeep of Prime Minister House to a few million rupees from Rs 1 billion, he added.
He said Rs 1 billion was spent by the previous government on the purchase of 33 vehicles to escort diplomats for the SAARC conference, which was never held and further Rs 350 million was spent on their maintenance, which had gone waste.
The auction of buffaloes kept at the Prime Minister's House indicated the austerity measures being adopted by the government, he added. He said the previous government of Nawaz Sharif had accumulated foreign loans, which were wasted by spending on the Orange Line Train and Metro Bus projects, while the people yearned for health facilities. The foreign debts had crossed Rs 28 trillion during the Nawaz Sharif regime, which were Rs 6 trillion during the Pervez Musharraf government.
"Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was so unmindful of the country's economic degradation and fond of extravagance that he used to announce construction of airports and motorways wherever he addressed public gatherings," the minister said.
About giving ownership to the common man, he said some 25,000 people had visited the Punjab's Governor House since it was opened for public by the PTI government on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Fawad said the judiciary and the armed forces stood by the government. No government could achieve the desired results if the state institutions were not on one page, he added.
The minister said health, education, clean water and a corruption-free society were the top most priorities of the PTI government. The prime minister had raised voice against the menace of corruption, which had become a norm in the country and needed to be dealt with an iron hand. He said it was also Prime Minister Imran Khan, who had launched the initiative for a 'green Pakistan'.
Comments
Comments are closed.