Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD (TNS) One year of success of Shahbaz Sharif government…leadership is perfect, performance was unparalleled,
A special meeting was held to review the performance of the federal cabinet on the completion of the first year of the federal government. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the special meeting, the Prime Minister presented the performance of the cabinet members to the public.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his determination to increase the country’s exports to $60 billion by 2029, make the country a trillion-dollar economy and get rid of debt under the vision of 2035, and said that development is not possible without ending terrorism.
We are not May 9, but May 28. We will have to bury the politics of stubbornness, hatred, verbal abuse and protest from the country. Instead of pulling each other’s legs, we will have to work for the development of the country.
I worked together for the IMF agreement. The Army Chief and I went to friendly countries. If terrorism is eliminated from the country, investment will come. Our government has completed a year, but the opposition has not been able to bring any false scandal against us.
In a period of one year, exports, remittances and foreign exchange reserves increased significantly. The inflation rate has come down from 28 percent to 1.6 percent. Pakistan will regain its lost position in the world.
Shehbaz Sharif said that the federal cabinet will meet on the completion of the government’s year. Addressing a special meeting, he presented the one-year performance to the public.
Citizens from different walks of life, including businessmen, representatives of chambers, journalists, women, students and other sectors, were invited to the meeting to observe for themselves and be aware of the government’s initiatives of the year and the future action plan.
The Prime Minister said that he hopes that with the inclusion of the new ministers, I, the government and the people will benefit from their hard work, dedication and passion. We are benefiting from the blessings of Ramadan, this month teaches us to dedicate ourselves to serving humanity, under this spirit, a package of seven billion was given in Ramadan last year, which was increased to 20 billion this year, five thousand rupees will be distributed transparently from the digital wallet to four million families in the four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, this digital system will neither create lines nor will there be false news.
The Prime Minister said that this holy month also demands that full solidarity be expressed with the people of Palestine and Kashmir. More than 50,000 people have been martyred in Gaza. The Kashmir Valley has turned red with the blood of Kashmiris. Despite the ceasefire in Gaza, there can be no greater injustice than stopping aid and food during the month of Ramadan. There is a need to raise a strong voice against this. Insha Allah, with the blessings of Ramadan, the Kashmiri and Palestinian people will get their rights soon. He said that a year ago, our economy was struggling and was close to default. We saved the country from bankruptcy with timely measures. When negotiations were underway with the IMF, letters were being written to it asking not to approve the program for Pakistan. There can be no greater hostility to the country than this. Today, not only have we come out of default, but the IMF, the World Bank and all international organizations are saying that Pakistan’s macroeconomic indicators are moving towards stability and the journey of economic development is ongoing. We have to work hard with unity. The government is striving for the betterment of the country and the nation. We are also grateful to our leader Nawaz Sharif and our allies from the PDM era. In addition, we have the full support of our current allies President Asif Zardari, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Chaudhry Shujaat, Salik Hussain, MQM, BAP Party, Dr. Abdul Malik’s party and Abdul Aleem Khan, head of the Stability Pakistan Party. With their cooperation, we have overcome the most difficult stages.
We are grateful to our allies for supporting us in every difficulty. Our success is the result of teamwork, for the first time in the country’s history, all institutions are working together with complete unity and above any personal agenda for the development of the country.
Federal ministers and government officials worked day and night to complete the IMF program, friendly countries have fully cooperated with us to arrange five billion dollars under the IMF conditions,
Army Chief General Asim Munir also played a full role for economic improvement and we also visited friendly countries in this regard. A few days ago, Saudi Arabia extended our oil facility of 1.2 billion dollars, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also rolled over 2 billion dollars.
The Prime Minister said that in 2018, when Ishaq Dar was the Finance Minister, the inflation rate was 3.1 percent, now he is the Deputy Prime Minister and the inflation rate has come down to 1.6 percent. Instead of pulling each other’s legs, we will have to work together for the development of the country. Foreign exchange reserves, which were four billion dollars a year ago, have now reached 12 billion dollars. Exports are increasing, inflation is decreasing, IT exports and remittances have also increased significantly. The Prime Minister said that in a year, the opposition has not been able to bring any false scandal against the government. What greater success can we have than this? The journey of development and prosperity will now accelerate further. Only then will Pakistan become a flying nation when the Khawarij are completely eliminated from the country. In the past, the eradication of terrorism was over. Everyone knows how terrorism has risen again. Who allowed the terrorists to return? Who was it that brought the terrorists back?
Officers and soldiers of the security forces and law enforcement agencies are wiping out terrorists by putting their lives on the line. This is an eternal story of sacrifices. The journey of development and prosperity cannot continue without the eradication of terrorism. In the special meeting, the relevant ministers, finance, energy, information technology and other sectors presented a report on their one-year performance. In the special meeting, citizens from different walks of life, including businessmen, representatives of chambers, women, students and other sectors, were invited to observe the meeting and be informed about the government’s initiatives in the past one year and the future plan of action.
The most notable thing about the government’s one-year performance is that the country has averted the risk of default. The most important challenge after the formation of the government was to save the country from bankruptcy, and the government has succeeded in this. The program with the IMF was successful and friendly countries gave concessions in loan repayments.
The government’s economic performance in the past one year has been very good. The current government successfully completed an IMF standby loan program from February to June, and obtained a new $7 billion loan program from the IMF in July 2024.
Due to the IMF loan program, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves improved, the value of the rupee stabilized, and foreign aid agencies regained confidence in Pakistan. Due to this confidence, the World Bank also signed a 10-year Country Partnership Agreement with Pakistan, under which Pakistan will have access to $20 billion in funding over the next 10 years. Due to the IMF loan program, government spending was reduced, and the rightsizing targets were implemented on time. In the past year, the government also controlled inflation, reduced interest rates, and there was a positive trend in the stock exchange. However, the economic growth that needed to increase could not be of this quality. In one year of the government, the people of Pakistan made the greatest sacrifice for economic improvement. The people continued to pay the capacity charges of expensive electricity contracts. The salaried class was burdened with the burden of additional taxes. The government reduced inflation, but economic growth could not exceed one percent. This year too, the government will face the challenge of increasing growth in any way. If there is political stability in the country and continuity in policies is maintained, it can be hoped that economic growth will also be seen in the government’s performance this year. For the first time in the history of Pakistan, income tax on agricultural income was imposed at the corporate sector rate. The four provincial assemblies enacted the necessary legislation for income tax on agricultural income. During the tenure of the current government, interest rates have continuously decreased during the past one year, due to which the cost of production has decreased and small-scale industries have flourished. Remember that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s coalition government has completed one year. On this occasion, the Prime Minister organized a ceremony in which the one-year performance of the federal cabinet and the government was presented. The government has said that the inflation rate has come down from 38 percent to 1.5 percent and a 48 percent reduction in food prices has been recorded. Exports have increased by 10 percent in a year, the Karachi Stock Market has made the best profit in 22 years and the 100 index has increased by 84 percent and the interest rate has decreased by 900 basis points. In addition, it has been reported that in the first 6 months of the current fiscal year, foreign direct investment has increased by 20 percent and has reached $ 1.3 billion, while foreign exchange reserves have increased by $ 16 billion and remittances have reached $ 17.8 billion. According to the data, the current account surplus has reached $ 1.21 billion for the first time in the country’s definition. It has been decided to convene a joint session of Parliament on March 10, the second parliamentary year will begin with the President’s address.
The Presidency has asked the government to submit a one-year performance report before President Asif Zardari addresses the joint session of Parliament. The Speaker of the National Assembly will preside over the joint session of Parliament, and the military leadership, governors and chief ministers, as well as the speakers of the provincial assemblies, will also be invited to watch the joint session. The President will mention the important points of the government’s one-year performance in his address. The President will make important announcements on behalf of the government in his address to the joint session of both houses of Parliament at the beginning of the new parliamentary year. The government has started preparing the presidential speech. At the beginning of the new parliamentary year, the government will announce generous incentives for salaried and limited income groups, which will be assured in the government’s second annual budget, which will include details of all the incentives. The announcement of these government measures will be part of President Asif Ali Zardari’s address, which he will deliver in a joint session of both houses of parliament on March 10 to begin the new parliamentary year in fulfillment of the constitutional requirement. The President’s speech will also mention the results of the government’s important economic measures. The President will also express his views on important regional and global issues, including Kashmir and Palestine, in his address. In view of the expected protests by the opposition, the President’s address will be 20 to 25 minutes long.
