ISLAMABAD, Nov 2 (APP): The federal cabinet, which met here Wednesday with Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in chair, lauded the efforts of government’s economic team led by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, resulting in the improvement in Sovereign Credit Rating of Pakistan from -B to B by Standard’s and Poor’s (SNP).
Addressing the cabinet, the Prime Minister thanked the nation for rejecting the un-parliamentary forces.
He said the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the President of Asian Development Bank, who visited Pakistan few days ago, appreciated the economic development of the country, according to a press release issued here.
The Prime Minister said for the first time in the country’s history “we have successfully completed a macro-economic reforms programme with IMF and now IMF programmes in Pakistan have come to an end.”
He expressed his satisfaction that the issue of Panama Papers would be resolved by the Supreme Court. He himself had approached the Supreme Court to constitute a commission for adjudicating on the issue, he added.
He said the government’s earlier sincere efforts to legally resolve the issue were frustrated by the opposition by politicizing the matter.
He said the matter now was in the Supreme Court where it would be decided in accordance with the law of the land.
The Prime Minister said he had disallowed his legal team to discuss the maintainability of the petition so that it could be admitted un-hindered.
He mentioned continuous successes of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in the elections of Cantonment Boards, Local Bodies, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir as testimony of the people’s trust in the elected government.
He called upon the nation to support the elected government’s hard work for the economic uplift and welfare of the country.
The Prime Minister asked Ishaq Dar, Chairman Electoral Reforms Committee, to prepare and give a briefing on electoral reforms during the next cabinet meeting.
He also instructed him to prepare comprehensive recommendations on electoral reforms in consultation with all parliamentary parties in order to take necessary constitutional steps to improve the electoral system in the country.
He said next elections should be transparent and free of controversies so that the political parties could participate in the electoral process with full satisfaction and confidence.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to the political maturity of nation which had rejected un-democratic politics. The cabinet announced a relief package for those who lost their loved ones and/or suffered financial losses as the result of un-provoked Indian firing across the Line of
Control.
The cabinet offered Fateha for the martyrs of Police Training College Quetta and the victims of Gaddani ship fire incident.
The Prime Minister ordered an immediate inquiry to ascertain the reasons of the ship tragedy. A committee was formed under the chairmanship of Minister for Defence Production, with Cabinet Secretary, Additional Secretary Ministry of Defence, and Secretary Ports and Shipping as members.
Prime Minister Nawaz and the cabinet lauded the efforts of Interior Minister for handling the onslaught and bid to lock down Islamabad.
Appreciating the Interior Minister and his team, the Prime Minister said they had excellently handled a difficult assignment in order to maintain peace and protect the lives and property of the citizens, by establishing the rule of law and enforcing the writ of the state and its
institutions.
During the meeting, the Interior Minister complimented the police and Frontier Constabulary for their commendable performance.
He also thanked the Prime Minister for providing excellent leadership and guidance and for reposing confidence and extending unqualified support to him.
A report on Intended National Determined Contributions by Pakistan to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was submitted to the cabinet for its consideration.
The national policy on repatriation and management of Afghan Refugees was also discussed in detail. It was decided to seek further input from all the stakeholders in order to reach a broad based consensus for taking an informed decision.
The Report on National Maritime Policy (NMP) was deferred in order to take more input from relevant quarters to reach an appropriate decision. The cabinet also deferred its decision on Accession to the Convention (25th October, 1980) on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.
The cabinet confirmed the earlier approvals of the Cabinet Committee on Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) on Right of Access to Information Bill – 2016, Teaching of the Holy Quran in Private and Public Schools Bill – 2016, Alternate Dispute Resolution Bill – 2016, Pakistan Climate Change Act – 2016, The Corporate Rehabilitation Bill – 2016,
Draft Companies Bill – 2016 and Cost of Litigation Bill – 2016.
It approved the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) in its meeting held on October 31.
The cabinet ratified Paris Agreement on Climate Change. The Prime Minister himself attended the Climate Change Summit held in Paris in December last year. It also approved signing of regulations framed
under the memorandum of understanding on military cooperation between Pakistan and Czech Republic.
The cabinet also approved the signing of agreement on technical cooperation between Pakistan and Brazil. It gave ex-post facto approval for signing of Inter-governmental Framework Agreement for Peshawar-Karachi Motorway and Karakorum Highway Phase-II (Havelian-Thakot) Project.
The cabinet also took up the articles of agreement of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The cabinet gave its formal approval for initiation of negotiations between State Bank of Pakistan and National Bank of Belgium on signing of a memorandum of understanding on mutual cooperation for the banks’ operations in both countries.
The signing of this memorandum will facilitate investors and businessmen of both the countries as well as Pakistanis living and working in Belgium and elsewhere in European Union.
The cabinet also gave approval for signing of a memorandum of understanding between the State Bank of Pakistan and Central Bank of Philippines on cooperation in the field of banking supervision and exchange of information.
It gave approval in principle to initiate negotiations for an agreement in the field of youth development between Pakistan and the Republic of Korea.
It also gave ex-post facto approval to initiate negotiations for signing of a memorandum of understanding in the field of youth development between Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
The cabinet gave ex-post facto approval of the memorandum of understanding for cooperation in Research on Food Security, the Veterinary Sanitary Field, Plant Quarantine and application of Phytosanitary measures between Pakistan and Belarus.
It approved the signing of negotiated memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the field of labour and manpower training between Pakistan and Oman.
It also approved in principle starting of negotiations for signing of an agreement for cooperation in the fields of labour employment and social protection between Pakistan and Azerbaijan.
The cabinet gave approval in principle to start negotiations on draft memorandum of understanding between Pakistan and Kuwait for recruitment of Pakistani professionals in Kuwait through public sector.
The establishment of electronic data exchange between custom administrations of China and Pakistan under Pak-China Free Trade Agreement also came under discussion.
The cabinet ratified Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters.
