ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry Tuesday said the salaried class would get ‘big relief’ in the upcoming federal budget, while claiming that the purchasing power of the public increased with the same ratio inflation increased. “The salaried class would get big relief in budget. Inflation has increased in our country but the purchasing power has increased with the same ratio which is welcoming. Hopefully, the country would be nearing its goal in the next two years under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he said in a tweet.
“Good news keep pouring in. Kuwait has started issuance of work visa for Pakistan after 10 years. Pakistan’s remarkable recovery on Covid front has surprised the entire world,” he said in another tweet.
“The other countries of this region including India are battling this deadly pandemic. The Covid positivity ratio has fallen below 4 per cent in the entire country except Karachi,” the tweet added.
Apart from that, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib on Tuesday said the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Co-chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari resorted to wrong figure to mislead the nation about the present government’s economic achievements.
In a reaction to Bilawal’s remarks, he said the PPP co-chairman was completely baffled by witnessing the economic performance of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.
He said PPP had remained into the power in Sindh for three consecutive terms, asking Bilawal to share the initiatives taken by his government to curb inflation across the province including Karachi.
The minister added that the people of Karachi were left at the mercy of ‘mafia’.
He added that financial condition of the people of Sindh was getting worse with each passing day, while, in contrast, the family of Bilawal had become ultra-rich.
Bilawal and his family were, now, recognised for Omni group, money laundering and fake accounts scams, he added.
Meanwhile, Habib on Tuesday underlined the need for enhanced cooperation and close coordination between the media industries of China and Pakistan.
The minister, in a meeting with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong who called on him at his office here, an official statement said.
The Chinese envoy said Pakistani media played an important role in disseminating positive information about the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and dispelling propaganda of the countries hostile to the initiative.
He stressed on strengthening business-to-business cooperation between the two countries. “Trade is a good beginning for all kinds of cooperation.”
The minister said CPEC is a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was crucial to regional connectivity.
He apprised the envoy about the progress made on the Allama Iqbal Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Faisalabad, which, he said, had great potential for the Chinese investors. Necessary infrastructure in economic zone had already been developed, the statement added.
The minister stressed the need for joint ventures of both the countries’ companies in the textile sector.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021