ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan has reiterated his resolve of not giving any NRO to those who have plundered the wealth of the country.
He was responding to people’s live telephone calls on PTV. The program was also broadcast live on Radio Pakistan’s National Hook-up while PBC Social Media live-streamed it from all its platforms.
The Prime Minister said opposition cannot blackmail him to get an NRO. He said giving them an NRO will be a treachery to Pakistan and he will not allow this. He said he cannot give an NRO to criminals and dacoits. The Prime Minister said some media elements are spreading disappointment and hopelessness through fake news and negative propaganda.
Quoting report of the World Bank, Imran Khan said inflation is reducing in the country, while economy is growing by 5.37 percent, despite Covid-19 pandemic. He said construction sector is booming in the country. He said banks have received applications for housing loans worth 290 billion rupees and around 140 billion rupees have been given to the applicants, which shows public’s trust in government’s policies. He said 45,000 housing units are under construction, while the private sector and building developers are constructing three million houses in their 342 projects. He said 30 industries are directly linked with the construction sector and are getting benefit of this boom.
Talking about the agriculture sector, Imran Khan said the country has witnessed a record production of wheat, sugarcane, rice, and maize, which resulted into income of 73 percent to the farmers’ community. He said that every family in the rural or agriculture sector received an additional income of around 165,000 rupees. Large scale manufacturing witnessed a record increase of 10 percent, while vehicles, tractors, and motorcycles showed record sale due to prudent economic policies of the government.
The Prime Minister said corporate sector earned a profit of 930 billion rupees. He said tax collection recorded over six thousand billion rupees, exports 31 billion dollars, and foreign remittances over 30 billion dollars. He said all the economic indicators show that the economy is performing well and the media should refrain from spreading uncertainty in the society.
Replying to a caller, Imran Khan urged the people to strictly observe wearing of masks at public places to prevent spread of Omicron variant of Covid-19. He, however, made it clear that the government is not thinking of closing the businesses as it will cast a negative impact on our poor people.
Answering a caller, the Prime Minister said inflation is a worldwide phenomenon and Pakistan is not an exception. He said it should be kept in view that our government inherited the biggest current account deficit of 20 billion dollars in Pakistan’s history and we have to focus on stabilizing the economy.
He said as a result of stabilizing efforts, dollar’s value went up, which caused higher prices of imported items. Secondly, Covid-19 pandemic created supply shortage. He said the media should do balance reporting on the issue of inflation.
The Prime Minster said that the government is working to remove difference between powerful and the weak segments of the society in implementing the law.
He stressed the need of collective efforts of the society against corrupt elements and criminals to ensure role of law in the country. He said unfortunately our opposition leader addresses in the parliament levelling baseless allegations on the government but does not answer about allegations against him on corruption of 16 billion rupees in Ramadan Sugar Mills.
He said now the opposition is attempting to take people to streets against the government, but it should keep in mind that public will not come out to protect corruption of political leaders.
Imran Khan said dispensation of justice is impossible until we bring the privileged under the rule of law. He said the judiciary should conduct day-to-day hearing of corruption cases to take them to a logical conclusion. He vowed to bring reforms to the criminal-justice system in cooperation with the judiciary to prevent mafias getting unnecessary stay orders.
Responding to a questioner, Imran Khan said the government is making all out efforts to document the economy to broaden the tax net. He said the government has compiled the details of luxury vehicles and houses and their owners should honestly pay their taxes. He said every citizen will have to pay taxes to take the country forward on the path to development and prosperity.
Replying to a caller, the Prime Minister said the government has reserved 47 billion rupees for educational scholarships to be awarded on merit.
Answering a query about PTI’s unsatisfactory performance in recently held local bodies’ elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Imran Khan said some mistakes were committed in those elections and he has constituted a committee to look into that matter.
It is pertinent to mention that Prime Minister Imran Khan has so far held four public sessions in which he responded to 86 questions asked by the public.
Out of the total 86 queries, 74 questions were asked through phone calls, while 12 queries were received on social media.
Public participation in the Aap Ka Wazir-e-Azam – Aap Kay Saath programme was categorized as Punjab 47 percent, Islamabad 15 percent, overseas 11 percent, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa seven percent each, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan 2.4 percent each and Balochistan 2.8 percent.
