Pakistan Affairs

Tag: Shehbaz Sharif

  • PM Shehbaz accords in-principle approval to set price of cotton at Rs8500 per 40kg

    The Prime Minister of Pakistan\’s Punjab province, Shehbaz Sharif, has given preliminary approval for the price of cotton to be set at 8,500 Pakistani rupees per 40 kilograms this year. The Agricultural Task Force review meeting in Lahore considered ways to improve the output of cotton and its support price, with it noted that last year\’s floods and a shortage of canal water and fertiliser had reduced the amount of cotton produced. Estimated production this year is 12.77m bales, with planted cotton acreage and yield per acre due to rise. Sharif directed relevant authorities to submit the support price of cotton to the Economic Coordination Committee for early endorsement, adding that provincial authorities need to ensure fixed prices, and the federal government had to provide assistance to this end. Sharif also directed the Ministry of National Food Security to work rapidly towards increasing cotton yields.



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  • Pakistan govt. makes public record of Toshakhana gifts; retainers include Shehbaz, Nawaz, Imran Khan, Zardari – Times of India

    The Pakistan government has released details of foreign gifts retained by officials, sparking controversy over the Toshakhana gifts sold by former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The 446-page document, which includes gifts retained from 2002 to 2022 by former presidents, prime ministers, federal cabinet members, politicians, bureaucrats, retired generals, judges, and journalists, revealed that President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif were among those who benefited. Most gifts were retained free of charge, except for a few, such as one bulletproof vehicle each retained by Zardari and Nawaz Sharif after paying money to the Toshakhana. Khan and his wife received five precious wristwatches, ornaments, and other items. Officials are legally allowed to keep gifts if they pay a pre-assessed amount, typically a fraction of the value of the gift. The release of the details followed Khan\’s disqualification by the Election Commission of Pakistan last year over allegations that he had hidden proceeds from the sale of state gifts.



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  • Imf: Pakistan will unwillingly accept IMF terms: PM – Times of India

    On Friday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke to security officials in Islamabad and said that the country has to accept the strict conditions of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to provide a lifeline for its economy in turmoil. The deal is still a week or 10 days away, and the IMF has been negotiating with Islamabad since February over policy framework issues. Once the agreement is signed, the IMF will disburse an over $1 billion tranche from the $6.5 billion bailout agreed in 2019.

    To generate revenue to bridge the fiscal deficit, Pakistan has taken a string of measures, such as adopting a market-based exchange rate, hiking fuel and power tariffs, withdrawing subsidies, and more taxation. The IMF is still negotiating with Islamabad over power sector debt, as well as a potential rise in the policy rate, which stands at 17%. The strict measures are likely to further cool the economy and stoke inflation. Currently, the country\’s foreign exchange reserves are at a low $3 billion, barely enough for three weeks\’ worth of imports.



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  • Pakistan austerity drive strips ministers, staff of pay, perks – Times of India

    On Wednesday, the cash-strapped Pakistan government announced new austerity measures in order to secure a staff-level agreement with the IMF for the release of $1.2 billion in aid. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his federal ministerial colleagues, advisers and special assistants have agreed to forego their salaries and generous perks. Furthermore, government support staff will no longer be allowed to go on state visits and cabinet members and officers will not stay in five-star hotels during foreign trips. The government will also sell off all government residences in city centres and no officer will be allotted more than one plot. Additionally, data pertaining to the Toshakhana (state depository) and the gifts received to date will be made public on the website. Any minister, including the PM, will not be allowed to retain gifts valued above $300. The cabinet also decided that until June 2024, there will be a complete ban on purchase of luxury items and all types of new cars. Minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, stated that these measures are only “optics” and that the size of the cabinet must go down. Prime Minister Sharif acknowledged that the measures of entrenchment and simplicity will not reduce the burden of inflation, but they will reduce the resentment “that is accumulated in the people because of what has been happening for the past 75 years”.

    Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his federal ministerial colleagues have agreed to forego their salaries and generous perks in an effort to secure a staff-level agreement with the IMF for the release of $1.2 billion in aid. As part of the austerity measures, government support staff will no longer be allowed to go on state visits and cabinet members and officers will not stay in five-star hotels during foreign trips. Additionally, all government residences in city centres will be sold off and no officer will be allotted more than one plot. Until June 2024, there will be a complete ban on purchase of luxury items and all types of new cars. Furthermore, data pertaining to the Toshakhana (state depository) and the gifts received to date will be made public on the website and any minister, including the PM, will not be allowed to retain gifts valued above $300. Minister for climate change, Sherry Rehman, said that these measures are only “optics” and that the size of the cabinet must go down. Prime Minister Sharif believes that while these measures of entrenchment and simplicity will not reduce the burden of inflation, they will reduce the resentment “that is accumulated in the people because of what has been happening for the past 75 years”.



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  • If Pakistan has to rise like an \’economic tiger\’, lawmakers must rise above personal likes and dislikes: PM Sharif – Times of India

    At a high-level National Apex Committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he urged lawmakers to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to rise like an \”economic tiger\”. The meeting was attended by several prominent members from the political and military establishment.

    The Prime Minister criticised Imran Khan\’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for not attending the meeting held last month. He also called for a resolution through dialogue and not through the streets. This Apex Committee meeting was held in response to the Peshawar incident on January 30th, where a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up during the afternoon prayers in a mosque, killing 101 people and injuring more than 200.

    The National Action Plan (NAP) was devised by the then governors of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in response to the Army Public School attack in Peshawar in 2014. The Defence Minister and the Director General of the country\’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met the top brass of the Afghanistan Taliban regime in Kabul to discuss the rise in terror attacks in Pakistan masterminded by the TTP.

    The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country. Prime Minister Sharif said for the sake of the country’s prosperity, all stakeholders must sit down and resolve the matter amicably. He urged all to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to become an economic tiger.



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  • If Pakistan has to rise like an \’economic tiger\’, lawmakers must rise above personal likes and dislikes: PM Sharif – Times of India

    At a high-level National Apex Committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he urged lawmakers to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to rise like an \”economic tiger\”. The meeting was attended by several prominent members from the political and military establishment.

    The Prime Minister criticised Imran Khan\’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for not attending the meeting held last month. He also called for a resolution through dialogue and not through the streets. This Apex Committee meeting was held in response to the Peshawar incident on January 30th, where a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up during the afternoon prayers in a mosque, killing 101 people and injuring more than 200.

    The National Action Plan (NAP) was devised by the then governors of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in response to the Army Public School attack in Peshawar in 2014. The Defence Minister and the Director General of the country\’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met the top brass of the Afghanistan Taliban regime in Kabul to discuss the rise in terror attacks in Pakistan masterminded by the TTP.

    The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country. Prime Minister Sharif said for the sake of the country’s prosperity, all stakeholders must sit down and resolve the matter amicably. He urged all to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to become an economic tiger.



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  • If Pakistan has to rise like an \’economic tiger\’, lawmakers must rise above personal likes and dislikes: PM Sharif – Times of India

    At a high-level National Apex Committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he urged lawmakers to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to rise like an \”economic tiger\”. The meeting was attended by several prominent members from the political and military establishment.

    The Prime Minister criticised Imran Khan\’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for not attending the meeting held last month. He also called for a resolution through dialogue and not through the streets. This Apex Committee meeting was held in response to the Peshawar incident on January 30th, where a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up during the afternoon prayers in a mosque, killing 101 people and injuring more than 200.

    The National Action Plan (NAP) was devised by the then governors of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in response to the Army Public School attack in Peshawar in 2014. The Defence Minister and the Director General of the country\’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met the top brass of the Afghanistan Taliban regime in Kabul to discuss the rise in terror attacks in Pakistan masterminded by the TTP.

    The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country. Prime Minister Sharif said for the sake of the country’s prosperity, all stakeholders must sit down and resolve the matter amicably. He urged all to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to become an economic tiger.



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  • If Pakistan has to rise like an \’economic tiger\’, lawmakers must rise above personal likes and dislikes: PM Sharif – Times of India

    At a high-level National Apex Committee meeting chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, he urged lawmakers to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to rise like an \”economic tiger\”. The meeting was attended by several prominent members from the political and military establishment.

    The Prime Minister criticised Imran Khan\’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for not attending the meeting held last month. He also called for a resolution through dialogue and not through the streets. This Apex Committee meeting was held in response to the Peshawar incident on January 30th, where a Taliban suicide bomber blew himself up during the afternoon prayers in a mosque, killing 101 people and injuring more than 200.

    The National Action Plan (NAP) was devised by the then governors of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in response to the Army Public School attack in Peshawar in 2014. The Defence Minister and the Director General of the country\’s spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) met the top brass of the Afghanistan Taliban regime in Kabul to discuss the rise in terror attacks in Pakistan masterminded by the TTP.

    The TTP, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country. Prime Minister Sharif said for the sake of the country’s prosperity, all stakeholders must sit down and resolve the matter amicably. He urged all to rise above personal likes and dislikes for the country to become an economic tiger.



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  • Imran says people not ready for more inflation, but certainly ready for revolution

    Imran Khan, the former Prime Minister and Chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, criticized Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif\’s austerity measures, saying that the people are ready for revolution, not inflation. He accused the PM and his allies of being responsible for the economic destruction of the last ten months. He also warned the parties in power that his government is coming and they won\’t be able to save themselves this time. In response, PM Shehbaz announced massive austerity measures and stated that inflation in Pakistan will rise following the staff level agreement with the IMF. He also said that the government is focused on making austerity a top priority for the country. This is a critical time for Pakistan, and everyone must work together to improve the state of the economy.



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  • PM announces sweeping austerity measures for ministers | The Express Tribune

    Pakistan\’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced a series of austerity measures for government officials, including ministers and advisors, who will no longer receive salaries or other benefits. The move is part of the government\’s efforts to reduce expenses and tackle the country\’s economic challenges, such as rising inflation and debt. In addition, ministers will be required to pay their own electricity, gas, and water bills, and will be limited to one security vehicle and economy-class travel. The government is also working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to address the budget deficit and is increasing the volume of its Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). PM Shehbaz has urged all citizens to embrace a culture of frugality and work together to overcome Pakistan\’s economic difficulties.



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