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Thursday, 2 February, 2023 I 10 Rajab, 1444 Analysis: Pakistan moves toward deal-or-default endgame
Justice or bust: KP police take a stand with threat of mass resignation
Shahid Khaqan Abbasi confirms resignation as PML-N SVP
Fawad freed on bail on condition of ‘refraining from inciting violence’
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Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 215 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
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Govt assures IMF teaM oF hIke In power tarIFF g
economic team agRees to incRease poweR taRiFF By Rs6.79 peR unit in six months
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s pakistan teeters on the brink of default and the government continues to make overtures to the international monetary Fund (imF) to ensure delayed tranches of a bailout package, the government has confirmed a hike in the power tariff. sources said that the economic team has assured the visiting delegation of imF with regard to an increase of power tariff by Rs 6.79 per unit in next five months. the power division briefed the imF team about the plan to reduce the circular debt by increasing electricity prices and preventing power theft and line losses. the power tariff will increase up to Rs 4.46 per unit in the ongoing month under quarterly adjustment. similarly the tariff will hike by Rs 3.21 per unit in February, Rs 69 per unit in march and Rs 1.64 per unit in June respectively.
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FBR oFFicials says Rs200B taxes to Be imposed to meet taRget oF Rs7470B
sources said that the imF team on wednesday also discussed matters with FBR with regard to imposition of taxes. sources said that the imF has asked the
pakistani team to impose ranging between Rs600 to 800 billion taxes besides increasing the annual tax collection target to Rs8300 billion. whereas, FBR officials informed that the government is planning to impose Rs 200 billion taxes and the department will meet the current year target of Rs 7470 billion. sources said that imF also demanded withdrawing sales tax concessions in phased out manner given to different sectors while they also asked to impose sales tax on petrol upto 17%. it is pertinent to mention that the government has not collected any sales tax on petroleum products for the last 11 months. earlier, pakistan and the imF have begun talks on a ninth review of the $7 billion extended Fund Facility (eFF). the imF shared lists of prerequisite actions and told pakistani authorities in plain words that islamabad will have to move towards implementing all demands for reviving the stalled Fund programme.
Inflation jumps to 27.55pc, highest in almost 48 years ISLAMABAD: Following the continuous devaluation of local currency, import restrictions, hike in interest rates, fuel prices and other issues linked with the economic slowdown, the annual inflation in the country has hit the highest 27.55 percent in the past almost 48 years. according to data released by pakistan Bureau of statistics (pBs) on wednesday, the annual inflation in January 2023, measured by the consumer price index (cpi), has jumped to a decades-high level of 27.6 pc compared to 24.5pc in previous month and 13pc in January 2022. the cpi index of 27.55 percent, according to data, is the highest one after may 1975 when it registered 27.77 pc. the inflation has spiked to the highest level of 48 years at a time when thousands of containers of food items, raw materials and equipment are stuck in ports after the cash-strapped government curtailed imports. Ghulam abbas
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Peshawar Bombing: PM Shehbaz slams PTI over KP security lapse islamabad staff report
prime minister shehbaz sharif wednesday raised serious concern over the resurfacing of terrorism in Khyber-pakhtunkhwa, accusing the pakistan tehreek-iinsaf (pti) of failing to maintain security despite availability of special funds. the meeting of the Federal cabinet unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the suicide attack in a mosque at the peshawar police lines. the cabinet further stressed the need of promoting national unity and solidarity, and raising of cohesive voice by all the political forces of the country against terrorists. it called upon all the political forces to shun their divisions and grievances, express unity for the interest of the country and its people, and unanimously converge on the agenda for elimination of terrorism, so that the national security, solidarity, peace and economy could be protected in an effective manner. the cabinet, as a representative of the people of pakistan and their elected government, condemned in the strongest terms
the terrorist incident in peshawar of January 30, and expressed condolences and sympathies with the bereaved families. “the entire nation shares the grief of the bereaved families,” the pm office media wing in a press release said. the cabinet also prayed for the high ranks of the shuhada (martyrs) and for their families to bear the losses with fortitude. it also prayed for the early recovery of the injured people. the cabinet also made it clear that those could neither be the muslims who targeted fellow muslims at a place of worship nor deserved to be called human beings. under the teachings of the holy Quran and sunnah and the unanimous opinion of the learned religious scholars, derived from those teachings and declared in the ‘paigham-e-pakistan’ that such incidents were openly against the tenets of islam and ‘haram’, the cabinet expressed. it also expressed the resolve to eradicate all forms of terrorism, and ensure the protection of the lives and properties of the public, and that the blood of the pakistanis would be accounted for.
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Maryam defends ‘dynastic’ politics amid fury in party ranks islamabad staff report
days after being awarded the party’s top ranks, pakistan muslim leaguenawaz (pml-n) senior Vice-president and chief organiser maryam nawaz has defended the dynastic politics and came down hard on those censuring her recent promotion. “a lot of people are furious over dynastic [politics]. the nation’s love is not called a dynasty, it is a democracy,” she said while addressing a charged crowd of supporters during the pml-n workers’ convention in punjab’s Bahawalpur city on wednesday. maryam — the scion of the sharif family’s political dynasty, during her recent months-long trip to london — has been tasked with “reorganising” the party by her father, pml-n supremo and three-time prime minister nawaz sharif. the pml-n stalwart’s remarks on “dynastic politics” came following party leader shahid Khaqan abbasi’s resigna-
tion from the senior vice-president post earlier today. the development was confirmed by mohammad Zubair, spokesperson for nawaz sharif. “he [abbasi] is a big leader and quitting the post will have no effect on him,” Zubair, who also served as sindh governor, told the media. sources privy to the matter said abbasi decided to step down after maryam was elevated as the party’s chief organiser and senior vicepresident by prime minister shehbaz sharif, who is also the party’s president. speaking on her newly-designated positions in the party, the pml-n vice-president said that the party titles have recently been given and she “cherishes her supporters’ love more than the designations” granted to her. “a lot is being said about my position [in the party]. i am standing by you without the position and you stood by me too. i salute the people of Bahawalpur for supporting us during our testing times,” she said, deeming her supporters as her biggest strength after allah. during her address, maryam also ex-
pressed grief over the peshawar police lines blast, praying for the lost lives and a peaceful pakistan. the suicide bombing at a mosque on monday claimed over 100 lives and injured more than 220 people. she later conveyed nawaz sharif’s regards to the people of Bahawalpur, a key city in punjab. “nawaz sharif asked me to begin the political campaign from Bahawalpur.” censuring imran Khan-led pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) for concocting lies about the pml-n, maryam said she would reveal the truths that “the people of pakistan must know”. “we should be thankful that pakistan survived after returning from the edge of destruction, given where it came to in the last four years. they [pti] had made a 12-year plan [to rule]. imagine what would have happened had they continued ruling for 12 years,” maryam said while commenting on the deteriorated economic state of the country due to imran Khan’s rule from 2018 to 2022. “ever since the pml-n came into
power, our opponents thought that it has gone quiet and weakened. you’ve circled the field as much as you could. now it is the n-league’s turn,” she added. speaking about the agreement imran Khan signed as prime minister with the international monetary Fund (imF) and how
it destroyed the country’s economy in the past, maryam said: “imran Khan left the country hostaged by the imF by signing the agreement. it was a terrible pact. But when he saw the [pm] chair slipping away, he violated the agreement.”
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