Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal has said that the opponents are making efforts to impose "judicial 58-2(b)" in the country. He expressed these views while addressing a Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) youth convention here on Tuesday. "In the past, the civilian governments were dismissed under Article 58-2(b) of the Constitution," he pointed out.
He said that the political stability is very necessary for attaining sustainable development and prosperity in the country. He was of the view whenever the country embarks upon a path of progress, the anti-developmental elements become active to create political instability. Iqbal said that Pakistan Stock Exchange faced loss of billions of rupees in view of the joint investigation team (JIT) report.
He claimed that the anti-development forces are busy hatching conspiracies to break the current momentum of expeditious development in the country. He said that terrorism and load-shedding were at peak in the country in 2013. Now, the backbone of terrorism has been broken and the country's security forces have rendered unmatched sacrifices in this regard, he said, adding that the country has been put on the track of development and progress.
The minister said that huge investment has been made in human resource, energy and infrastructure sectors. He said 10,000 megawatts of electricity will be added to the national grid by the next year. Iqbal said that the world financial institutions are now acknowledging the economic achievements of Pakistan and predicting that the country will be among top 20 economies by 2030.
He said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will prove to be a milestone in the country's history, adding that it will make the country a regional trade hub. He said that in 2013, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan was near default and now its foreign exchange reserves have been surged to $ 23 billion.