Economic stability, job creation on govt’s priority list: PM Khan
Tuesday October 27, 2020
Islamabad: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan stated that the creation of new job opportunities — for skilled labour and the youth sector, in particular — and ensuring the country’s economic stability amounted to being ‘top priorities’ for the government, according to news sources. PM Khan declared that his main focus was on offering relief to the common man. He stated that the government’s revised economic policies were leading to economic stability within the country, which, in turn, was boosting the confidence of the business community. He stressed for the need to provide additional facilities to the business community (especially small and medium scale enterprises) and called for ‘out of the box thinking’ to achieve economic progress. The PM made these remarks while chairing a meeting of the federal economic team on Monday, which included key cabinet members and advisors. Attendees of the meeting included the Governor State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP), and the Chairman Board of Investment (BOI). Read: Moody ranks Pakistan’s economic outlook as ‘stable’ The meeting reviewed several different factors, including the national economic situation; progress on the cases pending against tax evaders; payment of tax refunds to the exporters; development on Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipelines scheme; strategies for increasing non-tax revenue collection; and other routine agendas. PM Khan stated that the continuous development of all major projects will expedite the country’s economic progress and boost employment opportunities for the youth community. He also called for added coordination between related inter-provincial authorities and departments to secure these targets. Read: PM launches ‘Financial Inclusion’ initiative for poverty alleviation The meeting was informed that in the period between July 2019 and November 2019, the export volume had increased. The PM expressed his satisfaction over the progress being made currently and directed the AGP to adjudicate the pending cases against tax evaders at his earliest convenience. He assured that the AGP office would be granted all the resources required to resolve the cases in question. The half-year review of the development projects is slated for January 2020, with the annual review taking place in August 2020. An online system is also being introduced in order to monitor the progress of these projects.
