ISLAMABAD: In the wake of massive inflation triggered by serious economic challenges, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has claimed that his coalition government has taken “tough” economic decisions and “sacrificed politics to save the state.”

“By taking tough economic decisions, the coalition parties in government have sacrificed their politics to save the state,” the PM said, addressing the Senate’s golden jubilee celebrations session on Thursday.

“We are human beings, we all make mistakes— but we are working to deal with the challenges,” the PM said.

“Economic stability without political stability is an unfulfillable dream,” the PM stated. He said staff-level agreement with International Monetary Fund (IMF) would expectedly be reached soon as Pakistan accepted IMF’s “toughest” conditions.

Democracy, fiscal discipline must for uplift, says Dar

The PM said that Russia-Ukraine conflict affected the developing countries including Pakistan.

The PM lauded the role of Senate in legislation on different issues and ensuring equal representation of the federating units in the upper house of parliament.

He also spoke high of the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in the formulation of the 1973 Constitution, which, he said, paved way for granting equal rights to the provinces. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that Pakistan would not compromise on its nuclear programme.

“Nobody is there — to compromise anything on the nuclear or the missile programme of Pakistan…no way… we are responsible citizens of Pakistan — we represent the people of Pakistan, we are here to protect and we have to guard our national interest,” Dar said.

“Nobody has any right to tell Pakistan that what range of nuclear missiles it can have and what nuclear weapons it can have… we have to have our own deterrence,” the minister asserted.

On IMF programme regarding Pakistan, the finance minister said that this programme was entered into by previous regime in 2019 but was not completed within the stipulated time.

The 2013-16 was the only IMF programme that completed, Dar said.

On negotiations between Pakistan and IMF to reach an agreement, Dar termed the IMF review “too lengthy, too long too demanding.”

“This review is actually — it looks like — each time the review is a new programme — which is very uncustomary with the IMF — so the delay is not on the part of the government of Pakistan,” the finance minister stated.

“It has been extensive engagement, unusual, too lengthy, too long, too demanding — but we have completed everything,” he remarked. European Union Ambassador to Pakistan Dr Riina Kionka said elected bodies ensure people’s power, governance and rule of law.

“Democracy is the core value of the EU,” she said.

Foreign delegates including envoys of different countries also addressed the Senate’s golden jubilee celebrations.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023