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ISLAMABAD: Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan said Tuesday that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led government could not provide reasonable relief to the people due to the “poisonous pact” with International Monetary Fund (IMF) signed by previous Imran Khan government.

The press conference was mainly called to convey the government’s viewpoint on issues related to the Supreme Court and the next general elections; however, when asked a specific question pertaining to his portfolio Dastgir parroted the government line: “We did not sign any agreement with the IMF.

It is the same agreement which was inked by the Imran Khan government in April 2019, which is still hammering the foundations of Pakistan.” He added that besides other pledges made by the previous government ‘extraordinary independence’ was granted to SBP, the rupee was let to free float, and money laundering and security related issues were part of the pact with Fund.

IMF deal violation by PTI govt described as conspiracy

Dastgir contended that Imran Khan’s agreement with IMF was so poisonous that when the incumbent government talked about harsh conditions and asserted that Pakistan is a sovereign State, IMF responded that Pakistan was also a sovereign State when the agreement was signed. The Fund made it clear that Pakistan has to comply with the pact already signed by the former government.

“There are number issues due to which the government and public both are facing problems,” he added.

Responding to a question, Dastgir said power supply situation will be far better this summer as compared to the previous year due to better management and addition of 2600 MW electricity from local-coal based power project in Thar.

He said load shedding duration will be substantially less during the hot months if Petroleum Division ensures supply of gas as per commitment.

“I, as a public representative, acknowledge that the lives of people are difficult due to high inflation as we could not provide sufficient relief,” the Minister added.

He further stated that the government will use furnace oil produced by local refineries in the summer and it will not import furnace oil for four months in a bid to save foreign exchange due to which impact of dollar driven import on FCA will narrow down.

The Minister for Power said bidding for the first 600-MWp solar project is taking place on May 7, 2023 and work on it will start by the end of this year.

Khurram Dastgir said focus of the incumbent government is reconstruction of the country while that of PTI Chairman Imran Khan is bent to stoke chaos and anarchy.

He said the 2018 elections were manipulated, the consequences of which are still being faced by us in the form of economic crises including shortage of wheat, sugar and fertilizer. He said a 90% increase was witnessed in debt and liabilities of the country during the PTI tenure.

The Minister for Power emphasized the need for simultaneous conduct of elections in the country, saying it is important for transparency, as well as, to take the country towards stability.

Dastgir said it is our effort that general elections, due later this year, are held in a free, fair and transparent manner without any unconstitutional interference. Elections, he added, should truly represent public opinion. The Senate and the joint sitting of the parliament have also passed resolutions demanding that elections be held simultaneously.

The Minister for Power also prayed the Supreme Court of Pakistan to constitute a full court to address the constitutional crisis through exercising collective wisdom.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023

Comments

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AmirSh Apr 12, 2023 07:49am
Instead of bashing previous Govt. Please tell us what PDM Tola of 13 parties has done in one year.
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Rizwan Apr 12, 2023 11:01am
"Fruitful" IMF deals in the past didn't turn around things in favour of long term economical development either. Admit it you people are just incompetent.
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Abay Chup Apr 12, 2023 11:52am
Lol, this PML-Nazi narrative is getting lamer by the day..blame everything on Imran Khan..no one buys it Also what is this chump doing talking about things he doesnt know - what about his own mandate, the energy sector disaster, no reforms..what has he achieved??
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Tulukan Mairandi Apr 12, 2023 12:05pm
the whole country is a simmering poison vat that is waiting to explode
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Joe Apr 12, 2023 01:10pm
But the current happenings with the IMF are fatal!
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Maryamsafdar Apr 12, 2023 01:41pm
Please have some respect for my servants. They are working very hard to perpetuate our dynasty, so, please say nice things about them.
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Parvez Apr 12, 2023 04:42pm
Placing blame on previous government....is an old gambit and rejected by the people.
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Hilarious Apr 13, 2023 05:34pm
Ah yes, the other 21 deals were laid out on beds of flowers. They can also see the people asking for handouts wearing 100,000 $ watches and 10,000 $ suits, they aren’t a charity, and no one owes Pakistan anything, the country and it’s people are it’s own worst enemies and unless the people can unite and truly show their strength, I for one feel like the country deserves what it is going through, while people are busy with Shia Sunni Punjabi Pathan etc we’ve fell back a 100 years compared to the rest of the nations with a similar history
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Hilarious Apr 13, 2023 05:39pm
@Parvez, not necessarily, with people severely divided over religious, national identity and political lines, that’s all people talk about, every one on the country is an arm chair analyst who knows exactly what needs to be done to turn the country around (while they themselves pay no taxes, steal water, power and gas) always willing to spill their blood for the nation as long as it never involves paying any tax all the while the folks in boots are running conglomerates that get subsidized in the budgets to directly compete with other businesses, it’s just one big cluster of non sense, of course you’ve got nukes, but do you have water? Power? Gas? Food security? Properly implemented laws? When it hits the fan, I wonder if the people can eat the nukes?
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Hilarious Apr 13, 2023 05:55pm
@Parvez, not exactly, you can tell it is a part of the culture if you have even a small accident/mis hap on the road, 99% shift the blame, maybe 1% actually take responsibility. The country and it’s people take absolutely 0 responsibility for anything, while living as if the world owes them something under the delusion that we can’t fall, how much more do you have to fall when the currency has lost over 1000% since the 90’s?everyone feels laws are just suggestions. Something as simple as driving can tell you a ton about how the people operate, and in Pakistan, it’s bad, gone to worse, but we have a mosque on every corner, it’s especially Interesting when there is no consensus on even when the azan should be held every street corner mosque has his own time and their own reasoning, also incredible to find your shoes missing if you mistakenly go into one of these “mosques” there are mosques, but god left the country and it’s people a very long time ago.
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