‘Efforts underway to revive economy,’ says PM as coalition govt completes one year

Islamabad: Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday said that sincere efforts are underway to revive the economy.

In a series of tweets on the occasion of completion of his one year in the office, the Prime Minister said despite economic landmines laid by Imran Khan, disruptions in global fuel and food supply lines, Pakistan's economy has continued to stay afloat.

The Prime Minister said all predictions of default have turned to be false alarms.

He said the coalition government has been at pains to repair, rebuild and deepen Pakistan's diplomatic relations that were dealt a severe blow by Imran Khan's regime.

Today marks the completion of one year since I took oath as PM of a coalition government. This has been a time of massive challenges & difficulties. Here's my perspective on this year: 1/n

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 11, 2023

The Prime Minister said over the last one year, we have largely succeeded in establishing Pakistan's credibility as a partner and friend.

Shehbaz Sharif said Pakistan faced unprecedented floods last year. The decisiveness, with which the government undertook rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts, provided social protection to millions of people and mobilized international community has been acknowledged by the world as outstanding.

He said the coalition government employed climate diplomacy to present Pakistan's case on the international stage.

Under the watch of the PDM government, Pakistan managed to exit the FATF grey list, thanks to the excellent inter-ministerial coordination as well as support extended by our military leadership. It was a long journey but sustained efforts made it possible. 10/n

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 11, 2023

The Prime Minister said as Chair of G77 plus China, we were instrumental in the establishment of loss and damage fund. Pledges of nine billion dollars at Geneva moot are evidence of our successful diplomacy.

Building on the public transport infrastructure, govt., since its inception in April last year, focused on early completion of the development and transport infrastructure projects in Islamabad. Idea was to provide ease, comfort & affordable mobility to the people ??. n/n

— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) April 11, 2023

He said in the last one year, we have made efforts to diversify the energy mix with an aim to provide relief to the citizens. The renewed focus on solar, hydel, and coal power projects is aimed at replacing the costlier sources of power generation with cheaper ones.

The Prime Minister said inflation has hit people hard globally. Geo-strategic rivalries, increase in prices of the fuel and food commodities and historic floods are some of the key factors responsible for inflation.

Mindful of its impact, government has expanded social safety net and provided targeted subsidies.

Shehbaz Sharif said under the watch of the PDM government, Pakistan managed to exit the FATF grey list. He thanked military leadership for sustained efforts and support in this regard.

The Prime Minister said the passage of No-Confidence Vote against Imran Niazi's government was unprecedented not because PDM came into power, but because almost all of Pakistan's political forces came together to use the forum of Parliament to vote out an unpopular government through constitutional means.

He said the coming together of political parties with different manifestos for a common national cause represents a major step forward in the country's political evolution.

He said reconciliation and cooperation, not confrontation and vendetta mark the new politics post-April 2022.