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Saturday, 25 March, 2023 I 3 Ramzan, 1444 Pakistan, China reaffirm commitment to CPEC: FO
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Plea filed in SC for polls in Punjab, KP
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Rs 15.00 | Vol XIII No 266 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
President Alvi writes to PM for ‘on tiMe Polls’, end to Hr Abuse by ‘AutHorities’ g
stresses polls In two proVInces as per tIMeFraMe essentIal to aVoId Further coMplIcatIons
g
says pennIng letter In VIew oF eVents InVolVIng VIolatIons oF FundaMental huMan rIghts
iSLAMABAD
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StAff RepoRt
resIdent dr arif alvi on Friday wrote a letter to prime Minister shehbaz sharif, emphasizing all relevant executive authorities of federal and provincial governments should be directed to refrain from abuse of human rights and assist the ecp in holding general elections in punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa within the given timeframe. “holding of elections in the two provinces as per the constitutional timeframe, in compliance with the supreme court’s order dated March 1, 2023 is essential to avoid further complications, including contempt of court”, president dr alvi wrote. the president said he was writing the letter as events had taken place in the recent past involving glaring violations of fundamental and human rights that were highlighted by the print, electronic and social media and needed to be brought to the prime minister’s notice to ensure remedial measures and preventive action. dr alvi said the elections of provincial assemblies, in case of their dissolution under article 105 or article 112, were required to be held within 90 days under article 224 (2) of the constitution. he added that the supreme court of pakistan vide its order dated 1st March, 2023 had directed the ecp to propose date(s) to the president for holding the poll within 90 days or on a date that deviates to barest minimum from aforesaid deadline. he said the governor of khyber
pakhtunkhwa was also directed by the supreme court to appoint a date for holding the general election for the provincial assembly of khyber pakhtunkhwa as per above timeframe. subsequently, the ecp had pro-
posed holding of general elections between april 30 and May 7, 2023 and general elections for the provincial assembly of punjab were announced to be held on april 30, 2023 and the same was notified by the ecp.
president alvi said that it appeared that federal and care-taker governments in punjab and khyber pakhtunkhwa advised the heads of departments concerned to indicate their inability to provide the necessary support for holding general elections. he referred to article 220 of the constitution which states that “it shall be the duty of all executive authorities in the Federation and in the provinces to assist the commissioner and the election commission in the discharge of his or their functions.” he underlined that in his opinion, flagrant violation of the constitution had been committed by the executive authorities and government departments, and that the ecp had not implemented his announcement of holding general elections in punjab on 30th april, 2023 and also blatantly violated the supreme court’s order dated 1st March, 2023.
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Sanaullah to President: Stay in constitutional domain ISlAMAbAd: Minister for Interior rana sanaullah on Friday said president dr arif alvi should “work in his constitutional domain” and better write a letter to pakistan tehreek-e-Insaf chairman Imran khan to return 190 million pounds to the national exchequer. “he (president) should also seek answer from the ptI chief for “acts of terrorism”, besides “accepting tyrian as his daughter” and facing the toshakhana and foreign funding cases in courts, he said while reacting to a letter written by president alvi to prime Minister shehbaz sharif. the minister said the president should not “act on the orders of Imran khan and becomes his puppet”. but unfortunately, “a person breaking the constitution and law had been appointed to the constitutional position”, he added. he said the question arose why president alvi did not act over violation of human rights when a person was arrested in a fake case of 15kg of heroin. whether putting the opposition leader, and the sisters and daughters of political opponents in death cells were not the violation of human rights, he further questioned. rana sanaullah said journalists were tortured during the Imran khan-led government, which was also sheer violation of human rights but the president remained silent at that time. he also questioned the president’s silence over human rights violations of policemen, who were targeted with petrol bombs, grenades and slingshots. StAff RepoRt
Pakistan’s weekly inflation jumps to 46.65pc prIces oF 26 IteMs Increased, 12 IteMs decreased g whereas those oF 13 IteMs reMaIned stable g
China approves rollover of $2b SAFE deposits g
IMF puts pressure on pakIstan to brIdge $6b gap, urges bIlateral partners to FulFIll coMMItMents Profit rePort
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ISLAMABAD
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china has given approval for the rollover of $2 billion state administration of Foreign exchange (saFe) deposits for one year. Finance Minister Ishaq dar confirmed this when asked by the news of Friday. the rollover of chinese saFe deposits is one of the requirements set by the IMF for pakistan to meet its external financing needs and move towards a staff-level agreement. one of the nine tables under the Memorandum of economic and Financial policies (MeFp) is related to the net International reserves (nIr), which cannot be fulfilled without incorporating external financing needs until the end of
the weekly inflation, measured by sensitive price Indicator (spI), witnessed an increase of 1.8 per cent to jump to 46.65pc on a year-on-year basis for the week ended on March 22, according to a report issued by the pakistan bureau of statistics (pbs). of the 51 items tracked, the prices of 26 items increased, 12 items decreased, whereas those of 13 items remained stable. during the week under review, the items whose prices increased the most compared to the previous year were tomatoes (71.77%), wheat Flour (42.32%), potatoes (11.47%), bananas (11.07%), tea lipton (7.34%), pulse Mash (1.57%), tea prepared (1.32%) and gur (1.03%), non-food items, georgette (2.11%), lawn (1.77%) and long cloth (1.58%). the products whose prices dropped the most compared to the previous week were chicken (8.14%), chillies powdered (2.31%), lpg (1.31%), Mustard oil & garlic (1.19%) each, pulse gram & onions (1.06%) each, Vegetable ghee 1 kg (0.83%), cooking oil 5 litre (0.21%), pulse Moong (0.17%), pulse Masoor (0.15%) and eggs (0.03%).
June 2023. the IMF has asked pakistan to bridge a $6 billion gap to maintain its credibility, as failure to do so may result in default. this condition was set due to commitments made by gulf countries on the executive board for financial assistance to pakistan in various forms, including deposits and investments. the IMF has advised Islamabad that its credibility is at stake if it fails to materialise commitments from its bilateral partners, and the support of saudi arabia, the uae, and Qatar is crucial in striking a staff-level agreement. only china has fulfilled its commitments to pakistan so far, including refinancing commercial loans and rolling over saFe deposits.
fiqah-e-hanfia lahore sehr: 4:39 aM iftar: 6:19 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:42 aM iftar: 6:26 PM
karachi sehr: 5:15 aM iftar: 6:45 PM
fiqah-e-jafaria lahore sehr: 4:29 aM iftar: 6:29 PM
islaMabad sehr: 4:32 aM iftar: 6:36 PM
karachi sehr: 5:05 aM iftar: 6:55 PM
No bailout before agreement on Pakistan’s new fuel pricing scheme: IMF g
MInIstry gIVen sIx weeks to work out prIcIng plan whIch says assuMed prIces to be rs250 For ‘poor’, rs352 For ‘rIch’ Profit ReuteRS
a long-awaited loan agreement between pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be signed once a few remaining points, including a proposed fuel pricing scheme, are settled, an IMF official confirmed on Friday. the coalition government and IMF have been negotiating since early February on an agreement that would release $1.1 billion to the cash-strapped country of 220 million people. the latest issue is a plan, announced by prime Minister shehbaz sharif last week, to charge affluent consumers more for fuel, with the money raised used to subsidise prices for the poor, who have been hit hard by inflation, which in February was at its highest in 50 years. petroleum Minister Musadik Malik told reuters on thursday that his ministry had been given six weeks to work out the pricing plan. but the IMF’s resident representative in pakistan, esther perez ruiz, said the government did not consult the fund about the fuel pricing scheme. ruiz, in a message to reuters, confirmed a media report that a staff-level agreement would be signed once a few remaining points, including the fuel scheme, were settled. she added that the fund would ask the government for more details about the fuel proposal, including how it would be implemented and what protection would be put in place to prevent abuse. the petroleum and finance ministries did not immediately respond to a request for comment. with enough foreign reserves to only cover about four weeks of necessary imports, pakistan is desperate for the IMF agreement to disperse a $1.1 billion tranche from a $6.5 billion bailout agreed upon in 2019. the government has already implemented several fiscal measures, including devaluing the rupee, lifting subsidies and raising energy prices as preconditions for the agreement, which Finance Minister Ishaq dar said this month was “very close”.
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IMF has nothing to do with delayed polls. but are we surprised at trust deficit with the fund? g
goVt has seVerely JeopardIzed Its credIbIlIty wIth Fund and contInued wIth busIness as usual BAkht Noor ISLAMABAD
“the IMF (International Monetary Fund) has again contradicted the government’s claims that it is the IMF programme that is making finances for the elections unavailable. both cs punjab and secretary Finance had stated IMF targets as the primary reason why finances for elections wouldn’t be available,” taimur khan Jhagra, the former khyber pakhtunkhwa Minister of Finance exclaimed on twitter. the tweet came in response to the secretary Finance’s remarks about the government’s inability to release funds
for the general elections, due to the targets set by the IMF program for the maintenance of fiscal discipline and deficit. Jhagra’s party has been coming down hard against the pdM government both politically and on their economic performance. this recent episode involving the delaying of elections seems to have touched a very particular nerve. In response, esther perez ruiz, the IMF pakistan representative clarified that there was no requirement under pakistan’s eFF-supported (extended Fund Facility under IMF) program which could interfere with pakistan’s ability to undertake constitutional activities. the
decisions regarding constitutionality, feasibility, and timing of the provincial and general elections rested solely with pakistan’s institutions. there has been an ongoing tussle between Ishaq dar, Finance Minister of pakistan and the IMF. on the 9th of March, dar said that the country was “very close” to signing a staff level agreement with the IMF, which would offer a critical lifeline to tame the balance of payment crisis. an agreement would release $1.1 billion to the crisisridden national economy. these funds are part of a $6.5 billion bailout package that the IMF approved in 2019, which according to analysts could pre-
vent pakistan from defaulting on external debt obligations. The Nuclear Program debacle the funds were however being delayed. on 16 March, Veteran politician senator raza rabbani elucidated whether the delay in the implementation of the IMF program was due to “some sort of pressure exerted on pakistan’s nuclear or is it that there is some pressure on the strategic relationship between us and china? or is it that some imperial power in the new context of the world order wants a presence in the region?” dar also firmly reinstated that there would be “no compromise” insofar as
the country’s nuclear and missile programs were concerned. these statements paved the path for speculation and eventually the pakistan tehreek-eInsaf (ptI) Vice chairman and former Foreign Minister, shah Mahmood Qureshi also called the government for an explanation. ruiz, the IMF resident representative in Islamabad castigated these claims, asserting that there is “absolutely no truth to this or any insinuated link between the past or current IMF supported program and decision by any pakistani government over its nuclear program.”
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