Children enjoying camel ride at Sea View Clifton on the 2nd day of Eid-ul-Adha celebrations
Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif cutting the birthday cake of former Minister Local Government Punjab Mohammad Manshaullah Butt at his residence Cantt
Butchers slaughtering sacrificial animal in a house on the 2nd day of Eid ul Azha
President urges nation to write new chapters of tolerance, unity
ISLAMABAD, June 30 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi Friday expressed the confidence that though they could not rewrite chapters of history, but they could write new ones of tolerance, unity and glory.
On his Twitter handle, the president while extending Eid greeting to the Pakistanis and the Muslims across the globe, further stressed upon the people of Pakistan to strive as the 5th biggest country and play their true role in the comity of nations.
The president further said that he had just completed his second Hajj after 30 years.
In a number of tweets, he said that he prayed primarily for their beloved Pakistan and for its people. “Am beseeching Allah to provide us a way out of our miseries, towards progress & prosperity that we want to attain.”
“May Al-Ghafur & Al-Raheem accept my supplications and Dua. Just as the Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) forgave & pardoned all, even his most avowed foes, we must too & I have endeavored to do that,” he posted in a tweet.
The president also requested all to forgive him for any deed he might have done knowingly or unknowingly to hurt them.
Dar hopes Pakistan’s foreign reserves to reach $14-15 by end of govt’s tenure
LAHORE, Jun 30 (APP): Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has expressed hope that Pakistan’s foreign reserves will reach to $14-15 billion by the end of the government’s tenure.
Addressing a press conference with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb and Punjab Governor Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman here on Friday at the Governor’s House, he said that the government convinced the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that it would be very unfair if $ 2.5 billion balance amount of the concluding programme was not given to Pakistan.
He said that a standby agreement had been reached eventually and now the IMF would give $3 billion to Pakistan within a period of nine months, adding that the first tranche of the $1.1 billion amount would be released to Pakistan after the IMF board meeting in mid July.
The minister said that he was reluctant to impose taxes of Rs 215 billion in the recent budget to meet the IMF conditions but the prime minister assured him that if the programme was not finalized then he could reverse taxes.
The minister said that the letter of Intent, signed by Governor State bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmad and him, would be given to the IMF country representative and its scanned copies would be sent to IMF headquarters in Washington, while appreciating the role of the Prime Minister in breakthrough with the IMF at Paris.
He said that it was the 23rd programme which had been signed with the IMF and except 2013-16 programme, Pakistan could not complete any of its IMF programmes. He said that under the leadership of prime minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in 2017, Pakistan witnessed the lowest inflation and more than 6 per cent GDP growth whereas stock market capitalization was more than 100 billion dollars.
He said that a political project was launched in 2018 and the nation paid a very high price for it.
He said that when the PTI government left power, the total foreign loan and liabilities of the country had reached to $130 billion whereas total foreign loan of the country was $ 70 billion dollar in 2017. The stock market also lost its capitalization and it stood at just $ 22 billion when the PTI government left power, he added.
Ishaq Dar refuted claims of the country facing default and emphasized its status as an independent nation. “Pakistan possesses substantial assets amounting to $ 3000 billion”, he added,
He said that our objective was to restore Pakistan’s economy and take it to the position held in 2017 and beyond. While acknowledging the importance of the IMF programme, the minister said that alternative plans were available to safeguard Pakistan’s interests in case the programme had not been materialized.
He said that a future roadmap had been designed for economic revival and special initiatives were being taken in agriculture, IT, mining and other sectors.
Dar said that significant progress had already been made and Pakistan paid $5 billion in commercial bank loans, contributing to a reduction of $4 billion in external debt.
The minister expressed gratitude for China’s substantial assistance, which played a vital role in boosting Pakistan’s overall reserves to $10 billion. “Our target is to further increase reserves to $14-15 billion by end of the government’s term”, he added.
PM hopes IMF’s SBA to help Pakistan achieve economic stability; reiterates nations are’t built thru loans
ISLAMABAD, June 30 (APP): Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Friday reiterated that while the International Monetary Fund Stand-by Agreement (SBA) was a much-needed breather, which would help the country achieve economic stability, but the nations were not built through loans.
In a lengthy tweet, the prime minister referred to his core argument in today’s presser held in Lahore on the occasion of signing of the SBA.
The prime minister also prayed for this new programme to be the last one for Pakistan.
He further said that under a whole-of-the-government approach, they had worked out an Economic Revival Plan, which would focus on unlocking their strategic potential in agriculture, mine and minerals, defence production and information technology.
The plan would bring up investments of billions of dollars and create job opportunities for four million people, he added.
The prime minister observed that it might be a tough journey and quoted “When the going gets tough, the tough gets going.”
He also expressed his special thanks to friends and partners such as China, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Islamic Development Fund for standing by Pakistan at the time of massive economic challenges.
Vendor making mince for customers at his roadside set up on the second day of Eid ul Adha
Butchers cutting meat into pieces after slaughtering sacrificial animal on the 2nd of Eid Ul Azha
Children enjoying camel ride during the 1st day of Eid Ul Azha near Railway Station
Butchers cutting sacrificial animal meat after slaughtering on the 2nd day of Eid ul Adha
