ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar has said that the government has cleared the circular debt of Rs480 billion which will result in easing the energy shortage facing business and industry.
He stated this in a meeting with a representative delegation of businessmen from Karachi Chamber of Commerce, Sialkot Chamber of Commerce and the Power Looms Association, Faisalabad here on Monday.
Addressing the businessmen, the Finance Minister recounted the measures taken by the government to rejuvenate the economy. In this connection, he said that the government had already cleared the circular debt of Rs480 billion which will result in easing the energy shortage facing business and industry.
The Finance Minister said that when the new government took power the wheel of the economy had come to a virtual standstill due to various reasons.Senator Ishaq Dar said: “we entered into a programme with the IMF without compromising anything in the budget and in accordance with the broad parameters of the PML-N manifesto.”
He expressed confidence that the government of PM Mohammad Nawaz Sharif will succeed in steering the economy out of the present challenges and put it on the path of growth and prosperity.
Dar appealed to the business community to cooperate with the government and identify those who are involved in gas and electricity theft. “We will never tolerate those involved in gas or electricity theft”, emphasized the Finance Minister.
He assured the business community that their genuine grievances would be addressed promptly. “We have to work together to build Pakistan.”
“We believe that it was essentially the private sector which had to play the role and the government would get involved only where private sector was shy of investment”, said the
Finance Minister.
Dar said: “When our government was overthrown in 1999 the total debt of the country stood at Rs3000 billion which now stood at Rs14500 billion.”
We have to unite and work, he stressed, together to bring the economy out of the present situation. “I am confident that we will succeed by working together with the private sector and business community”, said Ishaq Dar.
The meeting was attended by prominent businessmen from Karachi, Sialkot and Faisalabad, Chairman FBR Tariq Bajwa and senior officials of the Ministry of Finance.
NNI adds: Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will soon announce energy policy which will help overcome power crisis in the country.He was talking to a delegation of Malaysian investors in Islamabad on Monday.
The Finance Minister said the new energy policy will also help generate electricity on reasonable price. He told the delegation that the government has retired four hundred and eighty billion circular debt and the remaining twenty-three billion will be settled after completing the due procedure.
He pointed out that the government is planning to double the electricity generation capacity in the next five years.
During the meeting they held in-depth discussions to explore ways and means to further expand trade and economic relations between the two countries. “The existing volume of trade between the two countries is not commensurate to their close brotherly relations,” the minister observed.
Dr. Mohammad Emir, speaking on the occasion, said there were tremendous business opportunities in Pakistan and Malaysia was willing to make investments and looking at it as a spring board for re-export to Central Asia and Africa.
