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MASSIVE CRIME IF CONTENTS OF LEAKED ‘CIPHER’ TRUE: PM SHEHBAZ
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Friday, 11 August, 2023 I 23 Muharram, 1445
SAYS EX-COAS, OTHER SERVICES CHIEFS HAD CONFIRMED THERE WAS NO CONSPIRACY AGAINST PAKISTAN
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ISLAMABAD
CLAIMS PML-N SUPREMO NAWAZ SHARIF WOULD RETURN TO PAKISTAN NEXT MONTH
STAFF REPORT
RIME Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday described as “massive crime” if the alleged contents of the muchtouted diplomatic cipher which former premier Imran Khan cited as proof of a conspiracy against his government, published in a US-based news organisation were true. In an interview with WE News on Thursday, PM Shehbaz was asked if The Intercept story proved Imran’s claims regarding the cipher and the foreign conspiracy. “The answer to your question is that two meetings of the National Security Committee were held on the cipher under my leadership. In one of the meetings, former ambassador and Foreign Secretary Asad Majeed clearly stated that there was no discussion of a conspiracy in his meeting with Donald Lu,” the outgoing premier said. The purported cipher — sent to Islamabad last year by Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US — contained an account of a meeting between US State Department officials, including Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu, and Pakistani envoy Asad Majeed Khan, and was reproduced on Wednesday by The Intercept. As per the purported contents of the cable, the US objected to Imran Khan’s foreign policy regarding the Ukraine war. Although The Intercept has claimed
in its report that they were provided with the document by an anonymous source in the Pakistani military “who said that they had no ties to Imran Khan or [Mr] Khan’s party,” many believe that the source of the leak could be the PTI itself. As per protocol, only a handful of key officials had access to the confidential document. These included the foreign minister, the prime minister and the army chief. The timing of the purported cable’s publication also seems quite significant, as it comes in the wake of the imprisonment of Imran Khan over charges of graft in the Toshakhana case. PM Shahbaz said former army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and other service chiefs also confirmed that there was no conspiracy against Pakistan, adding
Workers’ remittances decline by 7.3pc in July: SBP
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that Majeed too had stated that there was no question of a conspiracy at all. “Imran Niazi said that this conspiracy was hatched because of his growing relations with Russia … but my government purchased cheap oil from Russia. “If god forbids this government had come from a US conspiracy, then it would have been a moment of shame for us,” PM Shehbaz asserted. He also recalled that Imran had himself retracted from his narrative and said that the US never hatched any conspiracy. “Will you consider Imran Niazi’s first statement genuine or the other one?” the prime minister asked, adding that the PTI chairman’s statements were poles apart. “Can a former prime minister spew hatred against the country to this extent? “In itself, if the contents of the cipher
are published (in the international newspaper), and are if true, then it is a massive crime,” he added. PM Shehbaz reiterated that Imran’s conspiracy allegations were a “bunch of lies” from “head to toe” and there was no reality in them. He went on to say that the coalition government worked tirelessly to mend US-Pakistan relations, which he said were damaged during the PTI tenure, and establish mutual respect and trust. In response to a question on Pakistan’s soured relations with other “brotherly countries”, PM Shehbaz said the Imran-led government had made Saudi Arabia upset. “I can’t go into details, but to demean Saudi Arabia, efforts were made to form a block to isolate Saudi Arabia,” he claimed, adding that it was “shameful” that a country that had helped Pakistan over all these years was treated in such a way. THE INTERCEPT STORY: “Don[ald Lu] referred to Pakistan’s position on the Ukraine crisis and said that ‘people here and in Europe are quite concerned about why Pakistan is taking such an aggressively neutral position (on Ukraine), if such a position is even possible. It does not seem such a neutral stand to us.’ He shared that in his discussions with the NSC, ‘it seems quite clear that this is the prime minister’s policy’,” said the excerpt published by The Intercept. In response, Asad Majeed Khan said that this was not a correct reading of the situation as Pakistan’s position on Ukraine was a result of intense interagency consultations.
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Caretaker PM: No census yet as PM, opposition leader meet again today ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
PROFIT INP
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said that remittances sent home by overseas Pakistani workers declined by 7.3 percent and reached $2.0268 billion in July, a drop of 19.7 percent on a year-on-year basis. According to the data provided by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the inflow of overseas Pakistani workers’ remittances clocked at $$2.0268 billion in July 2023 against $2.51 billion in the same month last year. The SBP data shows, overseas Pakistanis workers in Saudi Arabia remitted $486 million, United Arab Emirates (UAE) sent $315 million, $305.7 million from United Kingdom (UK) and $238.1 million from United States (US).
Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz met with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday as part of the consultation process for the selection of the caretaker prime minister. As per the Constitution, the prime minister had invited the opposition leader to a meeting to develop a consensus on the appointment of the caretaker prime minister. However, after a detailed deliberation, the two leaders decided to meet again on Friday to reach a consensus on selecting a name for the caretaker prime minister. The meeting to consult the name of the caretaker prime minister was held in a cordial environment, said a press release issued by the Prime Minister Office. “We’ve yet to reach a consensus,” Riaz told reporters after leaving the Prime Minister House in Islamabad. Under the constitution, the two have three days to reach agreement on a caretaker leader. If they can’t, the decision will go to a parliamen-
tary committee, and if it can’t agree, then the Election Commission of Pakistan will decide. The lower house of parliament was dissolved on Wednesday, three days before the end of its five-year term on Aug. 12. A general election in the country should be held in 90 days but it could be delayed for several months because the election commission has to redraw the boundaries of hundreds of constituencies based on new census data. Speculations about different contenders for the post of caretaker prime minister have been doing rounds for weeks now but
there is no official word yet. It all started when the government showed its intention a few weeks ago to dissolve the assembly earlier than its scheduled time so that it could get an additional month for the election campaign. The situation was intensified when Finance Minister Ishaq Dar’s name for the post of caretaker premier started making rounds. Though several other names surfaced later, PM Shehbaz hasn’t ruled out Dar’s name yet. Following his meeting with the opposition leader, it is expected that a unanimously agreed upon name would be revealed.
Leaked cypher: PTI renews call for high powered judicial probe ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) has once again called for the establishment of a high-powered judicial commission to thoroughly investigate the matter of cypher and subsequently make its findings public. The demand follows a news report published by an international news outlet which, according to PTI, corroborates former prime minister Imran Khan’s assertion that his government’s removal was influenced by the encouragement of the US government. A press statement released by PTI emphasised that the report further solidified the accuracy and authenticity of Imran Khan’s statements regarding the cypher. The PTI spokesperson remarked that the report’s revelations indicated that the ousting of Imran Khan’s government was orchestrated through a conspiracy involving a no-confidence motion. Highlighting the sequence of events, the spokesperson underscored that the former premier had presented the cypher during a National Security Committee (NSC) meeting. In that session, he added, the cypher was characterised as an intrusion into Pakistan’s internal matters, prompting a unanimous decision to protest through diplomatic channels while upholding diplomatic norms. The subsequent NSC meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, endorsed the stance taken in the initial security committee meeting. However, the spokesperson pointed out that efforts were made thereafter to diminish the significance of the cypher, with the ruling alliance attempting to dismiss it as insignificant and denying its existence. The PTI spokesperson criticised attempts to attribute the exposure of the cypher to PTI’s chairman, highlighting the need for an informed discussion and critique while maintaining the appropriate context. The spokesperson underscored the necessity of acknowledging that there had indeed been external interference in Pakistan’s internal affairs, calling for an open and transparent dialogue on this sensitive matter. Meanwhile, the PTI’s core committee has protested against what they see as a lack of adequate attention to the health and safety of Imran during his incarceration. The committee has called for the urgent transfer of former premier from Attock Jail to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi, asserting that his well-being must not be compromised. Expressing profound disquiet over the delay in allowing Imran Khan to receive food and water from home, the committee expressed its deep dissatisfaction with the behaviour of the ruling authorities in ensuring the health and safety of the PTI chairman. The committee underscored that Imran Khan’s history includes being the target of multiple assassination attempts, and they consider it unacceptable to put his health and safety at risk while under the umbrella of imprisonment resulting from a contentious court ruling. Citing established rules and jail protocols, the committee emphasised that access to quality and safe sustenance is a fundamental entitlement for former PM. The committee urged the court to take immediate cognisance of the situation and permit Imran Khan to receive food and water from his home. Furthermore, the committee concluded that an immediate action should be taken by the court to transfer PTI chairman from Attock Jail to Adiala Jail. The transfer is advocated as a necessary step to address the concerns over Khan’s well-being and safety, considering the conditions in the current incarceration facility.
Govt already utilized 41.5pc budget under ADB’ BRACE program: Report
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PROGRAM MEANT TO FULFILL GOVT’S PRIORITIES, OVERARCHING OBJECTIVES OF PROMOTING SOCIAL INCLUSION PROFIT
SHAHZAD PARACHA
The Federal government has revealed that it utilized 41.5 % of the budget under Asian Development Bank (ADB)’ “Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditure” (BRACE) Program during quarter ends on December 31, 2022. The Ministry of Finance on Thursday issued BRACE’s first quarterly progress report ending December 31, 2022. ADB approved a countercyclical support facility loan, a size of $1.5 billion on October 21, 2022- Building Resilience with Active Countercyclical Expenditures Program (BRACE) in order to support the government’s efforts to provide immediate relief to the people of Pakistan. The program was aligned with the government’s strategic priorities and the overarching objectives of promoting social inclusion by strengthening the support provided to poor and vulnerable groups, improving economic resilience, and supporting the trade-related sectors, ADB Strategy 2030 and ADB’s country partnership strategy (2021-2025).
According to the report, total revenues during the first half of FY 2022-23 grew by 18.8% to reach Rs 4,699 billion against Rs 3,956 billion in the same period of last year. The major contribution to this growth came from a 26.4 % increase in non-tax collection, while tax collection has also shown remarkable performance by posting a growth of 17% during the first half of the current fiscal year. On the other hand, total expenditures grew by 19.8% to Rs 6,382 billion in JulDec FY 2023 against Rs 5,328 billion in the same period last year. Current expenditures increased by 30 percent to Rs 6,061 billion in Jul-Dec FY 2023 against Rs 4,676 billion in the comparable period of the last year. The bulk of this rise stemmed from a sharp rise in mark-up payments which grew by 77% driven by higher servicing on domestic and foreign debt due to a higher level of interest rates. The Public Sector Development Program (PSDP Federal and Provincial) grew by 4.5% during the first half of the current fiscal year. Thus, the fiscal deficit during Jul-Dec FY2023 has been contained at 2.0% of GDP as it was in the same period last year while
the primary balance posted a surplus of Rs 890 billion (1.1 percent of GDP) against the surplus of Rs 81 billion (0.1 percent of GDP) last year. According to report, an amount of Rs 3.7 billion has been allocated to Pakistan Bait ul Mal and as per strategy for the release of the budget being issued by Finance Division, 40%, i.e., an amount of Rs 1.48 billion release to Pakistan Bait ul Mal till 31 December 2022 which has been fully utilized on different initiatives. In addition to that, BISP has also dispersed an amount of Rs 50.420 billion on account of Emergency Flood Relief Cash Assistance i.e. 50.188 billion in 1st Quarter and 0.232 billion in 2nd Quarter as per direction of the Federal Government. The scheme was an extension of the Fuel Subsidy Scheme launched in mid June 2022 to provide Rs. 2,000 per family to cushion against the negative impact of unprecedented rise in prices of petroleum products. The amount could be utilized for purchase of fuel or any other household item as per requirement of the targeted family. Government allocated Rs. 25 billion for
the program but only Rs. 16.76 billion was utilized to cover 8.36 million families. To continue the benefits of the scheme in the next financial year i.e. 2022-23, an amount of Rs. 48 billion was allocated to BISP under Fuel Subsidy Scheme. However, due to unprecedented rain during the month of July and August 2022 and subsequent floods in low lying areas, the amount for fuel subsidy was re-allocated to Flood Relief Cash Assistance, whereby the Government committed an amount of Rs. 70 billion. According to report, a subsidy amounting to Rs 14.03 billion till December 2022 has been given to the five export-oriented industries in gas / RLNG supply tariff on the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL’s) network out of which Rs 4.55 billion has been released to SNGPL against the tariff differential whereas Rs 9.47 billion subsidy is estimated to be required for the exportoriented sectors. Meanwhile, the government made an allocation of Rs 7 billion for the FY 20222023 However, to date, no release has been made from Rs 7 billion. According to the report, the persistent Challenges included High fuel as well as
edible oil prices as the impact has been almost double for the poor. The Russian-Ukraine war crisis has a serious impact on poverty that can increase the burden on the already tightened fiscal space besides Rising inflation, particularly food inflation (highest in the history of Pakistan), increase in administered prices of petroleum products, electricity, and gas and continuous depreciation of the country’s currency have a negative impact on household consumption which will lead to greater poverty, particularly in rural areas. The quarterly progress report (end 31 December 2022) shows that the financial progress achieved till 31 December 2022 on CDEP is satisfactory as 41.5% of the budget, under social protection, is utilized. To support the business and agriculture sectors, the government is taking measures to generate employment, protect job losses, and ensure food security. The overall financial progress achieved shows that 38.3% of budget has been utilized till 31 December 2022, which is expected to improve in the remaining two quarters of FY 2022-2023.