Federal Cabinet has affirmed that positive impacts of improvement in economic indicators will be passed on to public.   

The cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan was held in Islamabad today. Briefing newsmen on cabinet meeting in Islamabad Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said Advisor on Finance Dr Hafeez Shaikh apprised the cabinet of improvement in economic indicators, the government's policies leading to encouraging economic results and the problems faced by common people and strategies to resolve them.

He also informed the meeting of not only successful achieving the targets but also surpassing them in first quarter of this financial year in the areas of revenue collection, taxes, industrialization, export oriented strategy, foreign reserves, remittances, economic stability and inflation. 

The Finance Advisor further informed the meeting that due to turnaround of economy, the ultimate beneficiaries will be people of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister appreciated the improvement in economic indicators and performance of the economic team and also directed to disseminate information to public regarding these positive impacts.

She said Pakistan's economic policies have restored the confidence of international financial institutions including the IMF.

The Prime Minister once again directed all provincial governments to expedite measures to control inflation and prices of essential items. The performance of the provincial governments will be measured in how much reduction in prices their actions have brought so far. 

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the Prime Minister directed to ensure that essential items are available at the network of Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan, for which the six billion rupees have been already released. She said the technology will be utilized to overcome corruption and performance issues in USC.  

The Prime Minister also gave directions to the cabinet that all cabinet members must take responsibility of the performance of their respective ministries. If there is any issue, it will be the responsibility of the respective minister. The Ministers will take their decisions on fast track basis.

She said the cabinet was apprised of key projects under CPEC including ML-1, airport, and other infrastructure that were discussed in the recent JCC meeting with Chinese counterparts.    

Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the cabinet was informed that 1594 Pakistani prisoners from Saudi Arabia and 345 from Malaysia have returned to the country after serving their sentences due to special efforts made by Prime Minister.

The cabinet expressed displeasure over a news reports carried by a section of media regarding inquiry commission to probe debt accumulated by previous governments. The said report was based on wrong statistics and fabricated facts.

The Special Assistant said Law Minister Dr. Farogh Naseem apprised the meeting on developments taking place in the matter of treatment abroad of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The cabinet discussed the issue at length. She said there was a consensus in the meeting that treatment abroad of Nawaz Sharif is a humanitarian issue and there should be no politics on it. The government will not create any hurdle in this.

However, the meeting was of the view that the former Prime Minister should be bound with certain guarantees, sureties and indemnity bonds for his return after completion of the treatment.  

Replying to a question, the Special Assistant said the Prime Minister expressed displeasure over shortage and inflation of certain perishable food items.

She said the Prime Minister directed to devise a mechanism in which there is advance knowledge of perishable food items that could face shortage.

Firdous Ashiq Awan expressed the hope that there will not be shortage of food items in future. She told a questioner that increasing frustration of protest marchers indicates that they have entered into a close alley.

Meanwhile, Federal Cabinet approved the proposal of "Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Observatory" and "Ehsaas Governance and Integrity Policy". 

In a statement, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation Dr. Sania Nishtar said the policy is binding on the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division and its ancillary organizations.

She said the policy is meant to address institutionalize corruption and collusion in social welfare organizations. 

The policy also outlines that by the end of four years, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division will strive to use blockchain technology to ensure data transparency.

Kiani/Bilal/Karrar