THURSDAY APRIL 12: Approval of budget strategy paper deferred by Cabinet: coalition partners asked to make proposals

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Cabinet on Wednesday deferred the approval of proposed budget strategy paper for 2012-13 tabled by the Ministry of Finance with a view to bringing it in line with the aspirations of elected representatives after discussion with its coalition partners.
Minister of Information Dr Firdaus Ashiq Awan said that a decision on budget strategy papers for the next fiscal year tabled by Finance Ministry for approval was delayed because the government wanted suggestions from the coalition partners. The Minister said the Cabinet discussed at length the budget strategy paper for the 2012-13 period and projections up till 2014-15, aimed at accelerating growth while ensuring macro-economic stability and setting guiding principles for annual budget to achieve targets over the medium term. The Prime Minister, who chaired the meeting, said the budget would be prepared in light of recommendations made by people's representatives.
According to her, it was decided after the discussion that a special meeting of the Cabinet would be convened next week for finalisation of details of budget after an in-depth discussion based on input from the coalition partners. The Minister said the Cabinet wanted the Finance Ministry to make the employment generation strategy part of the budget. Firdaus Ashiq Awan said that an end to loadshedding was the demand of all the members of the Cabinet and Ministry of Finance, Water and Power and Petroleum and Natural Resources had been directed to come up with a strategy next week to deal with the challenge. Replying to a question about Prime Minister's son's alleged involvement in the allocation of chemical quota of a pharmaceutical item, she said that the Prime Minister took the Cabinet into confidence about the ongoing "malicious" campaign against his son. She said the cabinet expressed its grave concern over the "character assassination" of prime minister's family members.
In reply to a question about Nawaz Sharif's statement that the present government was the worst in terms of corruption in the history of the country, the Minister said that Sharif was the political rival of the government and that it was opposition's job to criticise government. She said that people still remembered Musharraf's charge sheet against the Pakistan Muslim League government. According to him, if PML-N is talking about the new mandate, it should first hold local bodies' elections in the province and then make a demand for general election.
The Cabinet prayed for the early recovery of the Army officers, Jawans and civilians trapped under snow in the Gayari Sector at Siachen and reviewed the implementation status of Cabinet decisions pertaining to Religious Affairs, Revenue and Science & Technology Research Divisions. The Cabinet considered and gave its approval for confirmation of the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) in its meeting held on March 2, 2012.
The Cabinet meeting was briefed about the Citizens Damage Compensation Programme (CDCP) and Secretary Cabinet informed that, so far, 1,700,000 families had already been paid through Watan Cards. She informed the Cabinet that in the phase-I, the eligibility criteria was the entitlement of head of the family for compensation. However, in phase-II, the head of the affected household would be provided with a compensation of Rs 40,000/-. The Cabinet was informed that International donors and development partners were highly satisfied with the progress made so far in alleviating the sufferings of flood affected people.
The Prime Minister directed NADRA and all concerned departments to expedite the process of distributing Watan Cards to the flood-affected people of Balochistan and Sindh. In this regard, he directed all stakeholders and provincial authorities to sort out the matter at the earliest. The Cabinet meeting was briefed by Secretary Finance about Consumer Price Index (CPI) and the prices situation in the country up till April 5 2012. The meeting was informed that prices of 28 items including tomato, potato and petroleum products, had increased during the last week. However, prices of 16 items including LPG, onion, eggs and garlic, had decreased while prices of 15 items, including tea, firewood and salt remained stable.
The Cabinet considered and accorded ex-post facto approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding Offer of Credit Line of US $200 Million to Sri Lanka to strengthen the existing friendship and economic co-operation between the two countries. The minister said the cabinet also gave approval in principle, for initiating negotiations with the Government of South Africa to have an agreement with a view to matching the demands and offers of jobs in various economic sectors of South Africa. The Ministry of Human Resource Development has prepared a draft MoU for export of manpower from Pakistan to South Africa.
The Cabinet meeting considered and gave its approval, in principle, for initiating negotiations on the draft agreement between the government of China and Pakistan on co-operation in combating illicit traffic of narcotics drugs, psychotropic substances and their precursors. The meeting also considered and gave its approval, in principle, for initiating negotiations of the draft agreement between Sultanate of Oman and the Ministry of Narcotics Control Pakistan, on co-operation in combating illicit Traffic of Narcotics Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors. The meeting gave its ex-post facto approval for signing and approval for ratification of the agreement on co-operation to combat Narcotic Drugs Trafficking Psychotropic Substances and Precursors between Pakistan and Italy.
The Cabinet considered and gave its approval, in principle, for initiating negotiations on the draft agreement between the State Drug Control Service, Governments of the Kyrgyzstan and Ministry of Narcotics Control, Government of Pakistan on co-operation in the fight against Illicit Trafficking in Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and their Precursors.
The Cabinet considered and gave its approval to ratification of the agreement in the field of Auqaf and Islamic Affairs between the Governments of State of Qatar and Pakistan. The purpose of the agreement is to enhance co-operation between the two friendly countries and the development of relations between them.