LAHORE: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Tuesday that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) were going on smoothly and they were confident that further talks for the second tranche would be reached during the IMF team visit to Pakistan in November.
“Due to the government’s measures of crackdown on smuggling and illicit currency trade, positive impacts had been caused on inflation with tangible reduction in the US dollar and petroleum products rates,” the PM said, adding:
“The US dollar was now trading at around Rs 278 instead Rs 330, which also helped reduced the country’s circular debt.”
Talking to the media during his visit to Mayo Hospital on Tuesday, he said that due to a crackdown on illegal smuggling, especially under Afghan Transit Trade (ATT), the local industry got encouragement and is now returning to productivity.
“The economic indicators were showing a positive trend,” he said.
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Answering a question, he stated that the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was a statutory body to whom support was provided by the previous parliament through legislation and its decisions could not be challenged or undone.
To another question, the premier stated that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was a constitutional body that would give a specific date for holding general elections in the country.
“The delimitation process was a constitutional requirement and the previous parliament had legislated over the issue while the Constitution mandated the procedure to be executed,” he said, adding: “The interim set-up was ready to assist the ECP in the process, it was the fundamental mandate of ECP to give a date but the caretaker government could not dictate it in this regard.”
When asked about the participation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the upcoming elections, he said that neither the ECP had placed any restrictions on the PTI nor any move to dismantle it as a political party.
He made it clear that the caretaker set-up would not commit any illegal and unconstitutional acts.
“It was the government’s policy that all the big and small registered political parties had equal rights and opportunities to contest the upcoming polls,” he said, adding: “We did not see any hindrance to the political activities in the country; those who were raising apprehensions over the provision of level playing field also have the freedom to make such claims.”
Responding to a question regarding the repatriation of the illegal migrants, the PM said that they had categorised the illegal aliens into three. He averred that there were around 1.7 million registered refugees and the government was fulfilling its international obligations, but there were foreigners who without any documentation, had been living in Pakistan for years and doing business.
“There was no perpetual ban on these foreigners, as they could return after completing their valid and legal travel documents and visas. The third category involves identity theft and over whom they had devised a mechanism to remove them from the database.
Among these foreigners who had self-claims over businesses and properties, they could approach the relevant legal forums and institutions as the government’s policy was not focused on usurping their assets. He said that the relevant forums and courts were fully functional and would decide their claims,“ he said.
The PM also reiterated that Pakistan was persistently raising the Palestine issue at the global fora and the recent horrible, condemnable and inappropriate aggression by Israel was leading to a human catastrophe in Gaza. He said that recently Pakistan co-hosted the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) emergency session along with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the issue.
“During my interactions with different global leaders, I have conveyed the sentiments and stance of the government and the Pakistani nation on the Palestine issue. Pakistan would continue playing its role over the issue till its resolution,” he said.
He also stressed projecting the history and culture of Pakistan to the outer world to boost the tourism sector in the country. Tourism had an immense role in the economic development of the country; he said and asked other provinces which had historical sites to focus on this area.
The PM also praised Mayo Hospital administration for revamping and improving their existing structure which he said was a precedent for them as such measures proved very cost-effective.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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