Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that Pakistan achieved irreversible economic stability and doubled the developmental budget in the past three years.

The prime minister, who visited the Planning Commission, was briefed by Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal about the progress on various development projects in the country under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Public Sector Development Programme.

“Our focus is on implementing energy and other infrastructure projects at the earliest,” the prime minister said, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s House. He said that investment and economic growth were linked to successful implementation of these projects.

The prime minister approved reforms for timely completion of development projects and creation of project management units at key ministries undertaking these projects. He ordered effective monitoring and evaluation of the required allocations against the release of funds by the Ministry of Finance to gauge the progress on the ground and fix the responsibility for delay, if any, on the executing ministries and departments.

“We cannot tolerate delays in the implementation of these projects,” the prime minister said and stressed that transparency and efficiency must go hand-in-hand.

The prime minister also said that he should be kept updated on the execution of projects under the PSDP on a weekly basis and made it clear that he would not compromise on the completion timelines of the projects.

Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar briefed the meeting about the revenue cycle of PSDP releases.

The prime minister ordered timely releases of allocations for power and communication sectors.

Iqbal informed the meeting that for the first time in several years there was no gap in release of funds to the provinces under the PSDP.