Thursday, 29 December, 2022 I 5 Jamadi us Sani, 1444 I Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 180 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
PM orders to sPeed uP iMPleMentation of agriculture stiMulus
iSLAMABAD
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staff report
hehbaZ sharif said the development of the agriculture sector is the guarantor of food security as he directed his administration to accelerate the imple-
mentation of the uplift package to help the farmers. the prime minister expressed these views during a meeting to review the socalled Kisaan package introduced by the government for the development of the sector. sharif stressed the need to ensure
food security in pakistan at all costs. he stressed paying special attention to the cultivation and production of wheat, cotton, canola, and olives for food security in the country. he emphasised ensuring the supply of better seeds to increase the production of other food grains including pulses. the meeting was informed about the implementation of the package, youth loan scheme, interest waiver for small farmers and provision of interest-free agricultural loans to small farmers in flood-hit areas through the state bank of pakistan (sbp) notification to banks for which instructions have been issued. in the current fiscal year until november, agricultural loans of rs664 billion have been distributed to farmers, a 36 percent increment compared to the same period in the last year. finance minister ishaq dar, minister for national food security and research tariq bashir cheema, and industries minister syed murtaza mehmood were among those present in the meeting. sbp governor Jameel ahmed, prime minister ’s coordinator rana ahsan afzal and senior officials also attended the meeting.
Ishaq Dar rejects rumors about Pakistan’s default g
suggests that disinformation about economic condition led to panic buying of gold, dollars profit report
the federal finance and revenue minister senator muhammad ishaq dar virtually spoke to a ceremony that marked the listing of pakistan’s first development reit. earlier this month arif habib securities announced that grr is going to be listed on the pakistani stock market. a reit, or simply a real estate investment trust, is a way to raise public money, into real estate projects, through the stock market. talking to the ceremony on Wednesday, mr. dar, rejected the rumors about pakistan’s risk of defaulting. he assured that pakistan has “resilience” and will sur-
vive all challenges. he was addressing (through a video link) an audience of capital market players including chairperson psX dr. shamshad akhtar, md, mr. farukh Khan and mr. arif habib. the finance minister condemned that certain elements involved in dirty politics were active in disinformation about the country’s economic condition and created chaos where the people had started buying gold and dollars. he expressed his satisfaction with the listing of a development riet at psX. however, he observed, pakistan could not progress much on this account since the ahdrml (a rental reit)
was listed in 2015. he referred to india who, compared to pakistan, had a high reit portfolio. he said when he took over as the federal finance minister on september 28, 2022, he identified the areas with a special focus on the corporate sector, the security exchange commission of pakistan and the pakistan stock exchange. he regretted that secp, which is the regulator of the capital market of the country, performed non-satisfactorily over the last couple of years. however, he ensured that he had taken certain concrete steps.
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PTI says it will ‘resist’ technocratic setup iSLAMABAD staff report
the pakistan tehreek-i-insaf (pti) will oppose any attempt to impose a technocrat government in the country, announced its senior vice president fawad chaudhry, as journalists considered close to the establishment float wordy proposals for an administration made up exclusively of non-aligned experts. his statement came as some sections of the media, widely understood to be sympathetic to the military, demanded to suspend democracy and replace the pakistan democratic movement (pdm) government with a cabinet of experts, tasked with stabilising the collapsing economy before new elections could be held. chaudhry observed that attempts
were being made to form an interim government with a limited programme and a fixed lifespan from six months to two-and-a-half years instead of holding general elections. in a tweet, he said the idea of a technocrat government was “foolish thinking”, and added that political instability was more severe than economic turmoil. he said that such schemes were being designed at the cost of the nation’s interests, and just to prevent former prime minister imran from coming to power. “We will oppose this kind of technocrat government,” he vowed. pti has been demanding snap elections since the ouster of Khan through a contentious no-confidence vote in april. to force the government to do so, the party has announced its intention to dis-
solve the legislatures in punjab and Khyber pakhtunkhwa. pakistan’s economy is facing a balance of payment crisis. the central bank reserves have fallen to $6.1 billion — barely enough for a month of imports. the fiscal deficit has already touched 1 percent of the gross domestic product (gdp) in the first quarter of the current financial year against 0.7 percent of the gdp agreed with the international monetary fund (imf). With the lender’s ninth review pending since september, pakistan has desperately been scrambling to secure financing to meet external payment obligations for the current financial year. ahead of the review, pakistan has been trying to approach allies to seek financial support.
Corps Commanders Conference: Military top brass vows to come up to public expectations rAWALpiNDi staff report
the top military brass on Wednesday resolved to fight against terrorism without any distinction and eliminate the menace as per the aspirations of the people of pakistan. the two-day corps commanders conference, presided over by army chief general syed asim munir, took a “comprehensive review of professional and organisational matters” of the security situation and preparedness of the armed forces. “the army top brass reiterated the resolve to fight against terrorists without any distinction and eliminate this menace as per the aspirations of people of the pakistan,” read a statement issued by the inter-services public relations (ispr). this was the second corps commanders conference presided over by gen asim but the military’s media wing didn’t issue any statement after the first meeting he chaired soon after being appointed as the army chief. though statement of the 254th corps commanders conference was brief and confined strictly to professional matters, it clearly indicates the new approach under gen asim munir. though no further details were available, it is understood the top brass discussed and reviewed the internal security with focus on the spike in terrorist attacks. as many as 420 terrorist attacks took place since the afghan taliban returned to power in august last year. in the last three months alone, the banned ttp claimed responsibility for 141 attacks. last week a suicide attack happened in islamabad. it was the first such incident since 2014, raising specter of another wave of terrorism. islamabad’s security has since been put on a high alert with certain diplomatic missions issuing advi-
sories asking their nationals to prohibit their movement. the us, uK, australia and saudi arabia have advised their respective citizens to avoid visiting a five star hotel in the capital due to a possible threat of a terrorist attack. the hotel came under one of the worst terrorist attacks in september 2008 when a dumper laden with explosives struck in front of the luxury hotel located in a high security zone. the security situation, nevertheless, has improved significantly as terrorist attacks in islamabad were rare in recent years. the increase in ttp sponsored attacks has compelled the civil and military authorities to review the strategy pursued by previous dispensation. a meeting of the high-powered national security committee (nsc) is expected to take place soon to take a decision in this connection. the military commanders’ huddle also came amid a spike in terrorist attacks across the country claimed mostly by the outlawed tehreek-e-taliban pakistan (ttp) which unilaterally scrapped a ceasefire in november effectively ending a startstop negotiation process brokered by the afghan taliban. the ttp, which was comprehensively defeated in a decisive kinetic operation by the military, has found safe havens across the border in afghanistan from where the group has been directing its terrorist operations in pakistan. islamabad has called these ttp sanctuaries “red-line” and pressed Kabul’s new rulers to take action against them. experts believe pakistan’s patience is running thin due to Kabul’s reluctance to crack down on the ttp bases as foreign minister bilawal bhutto Zardari said during his recent us visit that “all options are on the table” to deal with a resurgent ttp.