PM for speeding up process of institutional reforms in KP to cut non-essential expenditures

• The prime minister expressed these views while presiding over a high level meeting held here regarding the development matters of KP, reforms about the next budget.
• The public-private partnership should be focused and promoted for development projects so that on one hand development requirements could be met while on the other.
• During the meeting, a detailed briefing was given on the progress in the establishment of Rashakai Special Economic Zone, implementation of Swat Motorway Phase-2 project.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday called for speeding up the process of institutional reforms in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to cut non-essential expenditures in the province.

He also directed to keep the people completely informed about the economic situation of the province in the wake of coronavirus.

The prime minister expressed these views while presiding over a high level meeting held here regarding the development matters of KP, reforms about the next budget, and provincial economic situation in the wake of coronavirus particularly the provincial income and expenditure and future strategy to check the problems of resources.

Minister for Energy Umar Ayub Khan, Advisor on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Chairman Lt. Gen. (retd) Asim Saleem Bajwa, KP Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, Provincial Finance Minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra, KP Chief Secretary Dr. Kazim Niaz and other senior officers attended the meeting.

The prime minister said despite the economic difficulties every possible effort should be made so that there was minimum impact on development expenditures. Similarly in the next budget focus should be on the out-of-box solutions for development expenditures, he added.

He said the public-private partnership should be focused and promoted for development projects so that on one hand development requirements could be met while on the other, the burden on the government could be minimized by enhancing the role of  private sector.

Deliberating on the matters relating to energy, the prime minister directed that in consultation with the Ministry of Energy a future strategy should be made in the context of energy issues and the capacity of province in energy production.

During the meeting, a detailed briefing was given on the progress in the establishment of Rashakai Special Economic Zone, implementation of Swat Motorway Phase-2 project and the capacity of province regarding energy production and future projects.

Various recommendations were presented to the prime minister regarding the implementation of Swat Motorway Phase-2 and other development projects with focus on the early completion of the projects under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

The meeting also reviewed the progress of development projects in the merged tribal areas.

The prime minister said the development of merged areas was the foremost priority of the present government. It was committed to provide all the resources achieving the objective, he maintained.