January 23, 2022
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.
