[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared on Wednesday that austerity measures are the government’s top priority while speaking to a federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
The staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is anticipated to be finalised before next week, was the topic of serious discussions in the cabinet.
He addressed the group and stated, “Time is calling for us to adopt restraint, simplicity, and sacrifice.”
The government “has tried its best to fulfil its job,” said PM Shehbaz, adding that “everyone, including the ministers, advisers, and bureaucrats, will have to be part of the austerity drive.”
A coalition administration is “no simple assignment,” he added, but he also emphasised that the PDM government was working as a team to “put the country back on track.”
He declared, “Instead of looking back, we must reassert our commitment to advance now.
The prime minister simultaneously voiced optimism that the IMF programme would shortly resume.
Earlier this month, the country’s foreign exchange reserves slipped to the alarming level of below $3 billion for the first time in nine years, reducing import capacity to slightly over two weeks.
As the government seeks to revive the IMF programme, Pakistan has also sought to secure assurances from Saudi Arabia and China for more loans.
Meanwhile, Islamabad has agreed to implement the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP), which contains policy suggestions by the IMF.
Sources have revealed that the staff-level agreement between the fund and the government is expected next week.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
