‘Economy has stayed afloat’: PM Shehbaz recaps a year of PDM govt

Marking one year since the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government took over the country’s reigns after ousting former premier Imran Khan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to Twitter on Tuesday to look back at his government’s achievements.

He said that while the last year “has been a time of massive challenges and difficulties … reconciliation and cooperation, not confrontation and vendetta marked the new politics post-April 2022”.

In a tweet, he stated that “the passage of No-Confidence Vote against Imran Niazi’s government was unprecedented not because PDM came into power but because almost all of Pakistan’s political forces came together to use the forum of Parliament to vote out an unpopular government through constitutional means.”

This represented a major step forward in the country’s political evolution, he said.

On the economy

The PM said that “despite the economic landmines laid by Imran and disruptions in global fuel and food supply lines, Pakistan’s economy has continued to stay afloat.”

“All predictions of default have turned out to be false alarms. Sincere efforts are underway to revive the economy.”

He added that the coalition government has been at pains to repair, rebuild and deepen Pakistan’s diplomatic relations that were dealt a severe blow by the previous regime.

On floods, energy and subsidies

He lauded the government’s rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts when Pakistan faced unprecedented floods last year and said the way it mobilised the international community for donations has been acknowledged by the world as outstanding.

The PM also stated that in the last one year, the government has made efforts to diversify the energy mix with an aim to provide relief to the citizens. The renewed focus on solar, hydel, and coal power projects is aimed at replacing the costlier sources of power generation with cheaper ones.

He noted that Inflation has hit people hard due to geo-strategic rivalries, increase in prices of fuel and food commodities and historic floods are some of the key factors responsible for inflation.

“Mindful of its impact, government has expanded social safety net and provided targeted subsidies.”

He also pointed out that under PDM’s leadership, Pakistan managed to exit the FATF grey list, “thanks to the excellent inter-ministerial coordination as well as support extended by our military leadership.”

On April 9, 2022, then PM Imran Khan lost a vote of no-confidence with 174 members voting against him. Subsequently, Shehbaz was appointed PM by the PDM.