IMF says Pakistan moving towards strong growth: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said Pakistan's economic indicators are showing that the country’s economy is stabilizing and the IMF has also pointed out that Pakistan is moving towards strong growth.

Addressing a function at the PIMS Hospital here, he said when he visited the PIMS Emergency for the first time after coming into power, he felt that the Emergency conditions were very bad. “We want the Emergency to be special. The design of this Emergency has been funded by overseas Pakistanis who are committed to the development of Pakistan. The population of Islamabad is growing rapidly and it is necessary to build a hospital for them. The design of the 300-bed Jinnah Hospital for Islamabad, G-11/3, is also being developed in the USA,” he noted and said it was for the first time after 1985 that a new hospital would be established in the federal capital.

About the health card, he said no one has done so much work on health, education and economy in the history of Pakistan, which the incumbent government is doing. “We are providing health insurance in all the provinces except Sindh, which is not even available in the developing countries of the world,” he said.

The prime minister said he is glad that the head of the Doctor's Hospital had informed him that for the first time, a worker had undergone heart surgery in his hospital. Imran said that in 70 years, no one thought that there would be a government which would focus on a uniformed education system.

The education in Pakistan was divided into classes, in which the lower class could not get a chance to come up. He said that in this education system, the English speaking people were in the upper class and the Urdu speaking people were in the lower class and added that it was a burden of slavery on Pakistanis. “I have seen many people just to prove that they are literate and this is due to different curricula,” he pointed out.

The PM said: “To make the country a welfare state, we have established the Rehmatul-lil-Alamin Authority which will help our children to know the purpose of life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and the teachings of the holy Quran. We have stabilized the economy, all the indicators of our economy are in the right direction. The IMF is saying that Pakistan has moved towards strong growth. We are the first government to increase revenue while reducing its expenditure.”

The prime minister said that purpose of setting up the PIMS Board was to run the government hospital in the style of a private hospital and to provide posts on merit. He emphasized that appointments should be on merit and contended it is not correct that only the senior would come up. “It is not correct that whosoever is senior would come up but if the senior could not be a good chief executive, the brilliant junior must be promoted. The promotion and appointment must be on merit. As much people on merit are inducted, the standard will be lifted accordingly,” he said and added that the government institutions could also provide quality services.

Meanwhile, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani met the prime minister and thanked him for a successful agreement with the government's Barrack Gold Company for the waiver of fines of about $11 billion in addition to the development of the Reko Diq gold and copper mine in Balochistan.

The prime minister hoped that the development of the Reko Diq gold and copper mine would play a significant role in the socio-economic development of not only Balochistan but the whole of Pakistan.

Separately, Member of National Assembly Ghulam BB Bharwana called on the prime minister. She expressed confidence in the leadership of Imran Khan. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak and Maritimes Affairs Minister Ali Haider Zaidi also called on the prime minister. Members of National Assembly Aftab Siddiqui, Saif-ur-Rehman, Ataullah, Akram Cheema, Fahim Khan, Aslam Khan, Alamgir Khan, Abdul Shakoor Shad, Captain Jamil, Aftab Jahangir, Saima Nadeem and Nusrat Waheed attended the meeting. Special Assistant to Prime Minister Malik Muhammad Amir Dogar was also present in the meeting. The meeting expressed confidence in the leadership of Imran Khan. The meeting also discussed development projects being carried out by the federal government in Karachi. Members of National Assembly Mian Muhammad Shafiq, Shahid Ahmed and Member Provincial Assembly Nazir Ahmed Chauhan also attended the meeting.