Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said the government will not allow anybody to put the burden of corruption and administrative mismanagement in institutions on the common man.
The prime minister chaired a meeting to review the impact of government’s subsidies in various sectors to provide relief to the low-income and downtrodden segments of the society. The meeting was attended by Minister for Energy Omar Ayub, Minister for Planning Asad Omar, Advisor on Commerce Abdur Razak Dawood, Advisor on Finance Dr Abdul Hafiz Shaikh, Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and senior officials.
The meeting was briefed about the provision of subsidies by the government in energy, food and fertilizers sectors, besides the Ehsaas programme for social protection, provision of amount and its usage to increase exports, and promotion of higher education.
The prime minister said apart from the provision of subsidy, it should be ensured that the amount provided is utilized for the specific purpose, and is fruitful for the people concerned. He also stressed the need to review effects of the subsidies. Imran Khan expressed satisfaction over the success of staff-level agreement with the International Monitory Fund (IMF), saying the IMF’s trust in the government’s economic policies and its direction with protection to the people in the current fiscal year is the success of government. He directed the Energy Division to fully concentrate on busting big power thieves besides taking action against the elements who have somehow become cartels leading to illegal profiteering so that the people can be protected from electricity theft, flaws in the system and exploitation.
The meeting was told that the basic purpose of providing subsidies by the government is to provide relief to the low-income and downtrodden segments of the society, promotion of industries and to access to the higher education. It was also informed that as a whole Rs 251 billion subsidy is being provided in the energy sector. About Rs 162 billion have been allocated for the current fiscal year to provide subsidy to those domestic consumers who utilize up to 300 electricity units. Similarly, Rs 8.5 billion has been earmarked to provide subsidy for tube wells in Balochistan while Rs 18 billion is being provided to the people of merged tribal areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rs 3 billion for Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Rs 25 billion for the K-Electric. To provide electricity and gas to the industrial sector at reasonable rates, Rs 10 billion and Rs 24 billion have been allocated respectively.
The meeting was told that subsidy worth billions of rupees is being provided to keep prices of wheat and flour in control. An amount of Rs 5 billion has been allocated to ensure strategic resources, Rs 8 billion for payment of arrears of wheat in Gilgit-Baltistan, Rs 2.5 billion for the Utility Stores for Ramzan Package and Rs 21 billion subsidy under the head of the Prime Minister Relief Package. Another Rs 6 billion have been allocated under the wheat package for Gilgit-Baltistan during the current fiscal year.
The meeting was informed that Rs 192 billion have been allocated for social protection under the Ehsaas Programme while full details of the amount provided for Kafalat, Waseela Taleem, undergraduate scholarships, poverty alleviation, shifting of assets and interest-free loans were also presented.
Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan was informed at a meeting that with the weekly sensitive price index (SPI) showing the trend of decline and expected to witness further decrease, overall economic indicators of the country are improving. During the meeting, which reviewed the overall economic situation, the prime minister was briefed about economic indicators including the current account deficit, foreign direct investment, foreign remittances and the current situation of inflation.
The prime minister, while expressing satisfaction over the improvement in economic indicators, said the government is fully striving to pass on the impact of economic improvement to the masses. He said that since the people are facing hardships due to the previous governments’ mismanagement, the present government is making every possible effort to provide relief to masses, especially the low income groups, salaried class and weaker segments of the society.
The prime minister directed to keep the masses informed about economic stability and improvement in economic indicators so that the confidence of business community is further strengthened.