File photo, courtesy PID
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Sunday said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed all federal ministries to achieve targets laid out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for economic revival, adding the government will hold authorities accountable for any deviation.
“The prime minister has set out realistic, target-oriented tasks for the ministries,” he told a press conference in Lahore after the prime minister set out a five-year roadmap for economic revival during a meeting of the federal cabinet on Saturday.
According to Tarar, the prime minister has provided all ministries with a 70-page document specifying their short-, medium- and long-term targets. The ministries, he said, would be held accountable for their performance as per this document during future cabinet meetings. He stressed that all authorities concerned have been directed to devise a modern system to monitor their targets.
As an example, the information minister said the Finance Ministry was tasked with curbing inflation; restructuring loans; and digitizing the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR). He said the Ministry of Commerce was tasked with reducing the trade deficit, curbing smuggling and meeting an April 30 deadline to ensure the approval of a national industrial policy. “The Ministry of Interior has been tasked with carrying out a crackdown against illegal weapons,” he said, adding it would devise strategies to combat terrorism, address illegal foreign residents, and ensure foolproof security for Chinese nationals.
On the targets of the Ministry of Industries, he said it would focus on the Industrial Development Regulatory Authority and the promotion of the ship-breaking industry. He said the Ministry of Education would ensure the enrollment of out-of-school children, increase Ph.D. scholarships by 20 percent, and develop a strategy for “National Hunarmandi” by Sept. 1.
Similarly, Tarar said the Ministry of Privatization would ensure the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) following successful negotiations regarding the future of the national carrier. “The government will receive the revenue generated due to the privatization of the PIA,” he said, adding the Ministry of I.T. would try to get social media companies such as X, Instagram and Meta to open their offices in the country.
The information minister said the center would also prepare a human rights report by September 2024, adding details of all these initiatives as well as new laws would be made public through an e-portal.
“The committee set up to reduce government expenditure will submit its report in a few days,” he said, reiterating that no cabinet member was taking any salary or privileges.