Day: May 27, 2023

Many more leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have announced to part ways with the party.

In separate news conferences, former Governor Sindh Imran Ismail, PTI Sindh President Ali Haider Zaidi, former MPA Hashim Dogar, former MNA Raja Khurram Nawaz announced to quit the party following the May 9 vandalism and violent protests across the country.

Other PTI leaders who announced to leave party include Taimur Bhatti and Chaudhry Ikhlaq.

They said our army is our pride and the entire nation stands by Pakistan’s armed forces.

Meanwhile, PTI leaders Dr Akhtar Malik and Mian Tariq Abdullah have also announced quitting PTI and strongly condemned the violent incidents on 9th May.

Addressing a joint press conference in Islamabad on Saturday, they said May 9 will always be remembered as a black day in the history of Pakistan.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said steps are being taken to ensure public relief in the upcoming budget.

Talking to Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghous Pasha in Lahore today, he said we brought the economy out of difficult situation to stability.

The Prime Minister was appreciative of the economic team’s efforts to stabilize the economy regardless of all the difficulties.

Shehbaz Sharif recalled that a big relief package was given to the flood victims in the wake of unprecedented floods in the country.

The Prime Minister said steps are being taken to ensure that the benefit of reduction in petroleum prices reaches the common man.

The Minister of State briefed the Prime Minister about the progress on the next budget, public relief and overall economic situation of the country.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb has ruled out negotiations with Imran Khan, stating talks could not be held with those who attacked the state.

In a statement on Saturday, the Minister said Imran Khan was not appealing for negotiations; he was, in fact, seeking an NRO.

Taking a jibe at Imran, she said the foreign agent who committed robbery of 60 billion rupees will be brought to justice.

She said talks cannot be held with those who attacked sensitive installations and buildings and desecrated the memorials of martyrs and Ghazis.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has urged the world to fulfill its responsibilities to protect developing countries like Pakistan from harmful effects of climate that are already facing economic challenges.

He said this while expressing deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives in an avalanche on Shounter Pass in Astore.

The Prime Minister said due to these effects, such incidents are increasing in Pakistan.

Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep sorrow over the loss of precious lives in avalanche and prayed to Allah Almighty for the eternal peace of the departed souls and grant of courage to the bereaved families.

Source: Radio Pakistan

Atif Mian, a well-respected economist, has criticized Pakistan’s economic policy terming it ‘non-sensical’. While comparing the experience of Ghana and Sri Lanka, he has concluded that Pakistan should “take decisive actions, aggressively restructure and take courageous actions”.

This is a veiled suggestion to declare default. This is a misplaced criticism made from a purely theoretical point of view. The gentleman has no idea how practical economics operates in practice. His comparison with Ghana and Sri Lanka, is also misplaced given the incomparably small size of their economies and populations relative to Pakistan.

Fundamentally, he didn’t care to analyze the structure of Pakistan’s debt which has less than 10% share in commercial bonds/sukuks, with the next maturity falling due in April 2024. The rest of the debt is owed to the multilateral and bilateral creditors. Both these classes of creditors are engaged with Pakistan and none has assessed that Pakistan should default.

The author has completely ignored the deep-rooted reforms Pakistan has undertaken in the last 9 months. These included market exchange rate, interest rate adjustments, mid-year taxation to improve fiscal position, imposition of levy on petroleum products and non-monetization of fiscal deficit. All these actions were undertaken under an IMF program which was unprecedented as never in country’s history such front-loaded conditionality was imposed.

However, we accomplished it through heroic efforts. It is unfortunate that despite such actions, the staff level agreement (SLA) has still not been reached delaying the release of 9th review tranche. The country is surviving economically and would continue to survive. What Pakistan has done is decisive and courageous; we would continue to walk the road to reforms to stabilize our economy and, in course of time, to steer it toward the path of sustainable growth.

The comparison of nominal exchange rate is also unwarranted. Pakistan’s real exchange rate is currently estimated to be 15% undervalued. The nominal rate is the result of speculation, market manipulation and general distraught from political instability. The undervalued exchange rate is reflective of the fact that underlying fundamentals are improving.

Pakistan has historically sold petroleum products at significantly lower prices than regional countries. With petroleum levy of Rs.50 achieved, this doesn’t involve any subsidy from the government. It would be unwise to levy additional tax on consumers on top of prices that have doubled in less than a year, especially when they are facing rising inflation. The author has cited this as an example of non-sensical policies. This is simply a misplaced example.

Pakistan economy has suffered because of international shocks of COVID, Ukraine War and devastating floods of last summer. The challenges that resulted from an overly heated economy, bequeathed to us in April 2022, and the breach of IMF conditionality on the eve of departure of PTI government, have been overcome by the present government.

The current account deficit, the primary indicator of balance of payments imbalance has firmly been brought down from a high of $17.5 billion to around $3.2 billion. This achievement is a reflection of bringing the economy to within its latent strengths and not on borrowed resources.

The author is also oblivious to unprecedented political challenges faced by the country. We are not living in calm and serene times. The present situation has major repercussions for the economy. With political stability likely to emerge soon, there would be a major economic turnaround.

Source: Pro Pakistani