LAHORE: Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib said on Saturday the PTI government is determined to further strengthen freedom of press in the country.

While addressing a ceremony at Governor’s House, here Saturday, he said present government passed the Media Bill aimed at providing a safe atmosphere to journalist community. He said reformation will be brought in media related laws and journalist community’s proposals in this regard will be welcomed.

He further said that Health Card facility is also being provided to the journalist community. The government wants to provide ease in the lives of the people.

Moreover, the Minister said there had been a surge in sales of the auto sector which clearly indicated that the country had a stable economy.

The minister said overall sales stood at 131,759 units during the seven months. It was 81,569 units in the previous financial year. In the first seven months of the current fiscal year, sales of car increased by 61.5 percent, trucks by 80 per cent, jeeps and pickups by 56 percent, and farm tractors by 16 per cent, he said in a tweet while highlighting robust sales in the auto sector.

In a tweet, Farrukh Habib said the prices of essential commodities have witnessed decline due to effective implementation of price reduction directives. The price of tomato has decreased by fifteen percent in a week time.

Quoting Statistics Division, he said the prices of fourteen essential items including that of sugar, egg, onion and LPG have seen a declining trend as compared to the last year.

It may be noted that Farrukh Habib Friday had earlier said that a resolution would be moved in the National Assembly (NA) for open court hearing in the case against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif of his alleged involvement in laundering an amount of Rs16 billion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022