Railways minister briefs PM Shehbaz about ML-1 project

Lahore: Minister for Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique called on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Model Town Lahore on Sunday.

Saad informed the prime minister of outsourcing efforts and changes made to Pakistan Intentional Airlines (PIA) in order to improve services at airports.

They also talked about issues pertaining to the relevant ministry and the nation's general political situation throughout the discussion.

The minister also gave the prime minister an update on the National Aviation Policy restructuring and the continued partnership between China and Pakistan on the ML-1 project.

Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Salman Rafique discussed the ongoing political and economic situation of the Pakistan on Friday.

During the meeting, overall political situation and matters related to development in Punjab came under discussion.

Earlier, PML-N Senator Irfan Siddiqui and PM Shehbaz spoke about politics on Thursday.

Siddiqui thanked the PM Shehbaz for a $3 billion staff-level deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the time.

IMF has released $1.2 billion to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) as the first tranche of the stand-by agreement, according to Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, who made the announcement today. The stand-by deal was approved by the IMF executive board the previous day.

He said that the increase in Pakistan's foreign reserves over the last four days was due to Saudi Arabia's $2 billion deposit and the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) $1 billion contribution.

Dar said in a public speech that the remaining $1.8 will be distributed in two instalments after two reviews.