ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Monday to consult coalition parties for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, in the meeting, the leaders and members of the coalition parties termed the prime minister’s initiative of taking the allies into confidence and including their suggestions as historic. In the meeting, the coalition parties informed the prime minister about their proposals for the development budget.
The meeting was also briefed in detail about the budget figures and the proposed projects under the development budget.
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He added that the focus of budget 2023-24 will be development, public welfare, and business-friendly policies, adding that the PSDP volume is being increased from Rs 700 billion to Rs 950 billion in order to increase the growth rate and employment opportunities in the next financial year. In the budget 2023-24, a significant amount is also being kept for the development and reconstruction of flood-affected areas.
Shehbaz Sharif added that the National Flood Response Programme, which has been delayed for years, is being launched. In the last one year, for the first time in the history of Pakistan, 13 parties saved the state by putting their politics at stake. There is no example of such an effort for national economic security anywhere in the world, the prime minister said.
The prime minister issued instructions to the concerned authorities and the Ministry of Finance to implement these suggestions and include them in the budget 2023-24.
In the meeting, federal ministers, Ishaq Dar, Ahsan Iqbal, Maulana Asad Mahmood, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Maulana Abdul Wasi, Syed AminulHaq, Agha Hussain Baloch, Sardar Israr Tareen, Advisor to Prime Minister Ahad Khan Cheema, Ministers of State, Hashim Notezai, Ehsanullah Riki, Member of National Assembly and convener Muttahida Qaumi Movement Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Members of National Assembly, Aslam Bhutani, Mohsin Dawar, Sardar Hussain Babak of the Awami National Party and relevant senior officials participated. Federal Commerce Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, and Member National Assembly and Chairman Balochistan National Party Sardar Akhtar Mengal participated in the meeting through a video link.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023