Shahbaz Sharif tells coalition partners facts about country’s economy are troublesome n Says gas, electricity circular debt has swelled to Rs 5 trillion, PIA’s debt ballooned to Rs 825b n Says Asif Ali Zardari will be elected as President with overwhelming majority n Economy, reconciliation in politics will be priority of coalition govt: Bilawal n CJCSC Gen Sahir calls on PM Shahbaz.

ISLAMABAD  -  Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif Thursday said that PPPP leader Asif Ali Zardari would be elect­ed as President of Paki­stan as coalition part­ners had overwhelming majority in the National Assembly, Senate and provincial assemblies.

Speaking at a din­ner hosted in honour of leaders of allied par­ties, he said Asif Zardari would be the candidate of the allied parties in the presidential elec­tion on March 9.

The coalition gov­ernment secured two thirds of the votes in the recent general elections and it would be reflect­ed during the presiden­tial election, he added. He said the coalition federal government was formed again with consensus and unity besides formation of Pakistan Peoples Party govern­ment in Sindh, Pakistan Muslim League(N) government in Pun­jab and a coalition government in Balochistan. “We have to re­spect mandate of the people,” he said adding, “the world is look­ing towards Pakistan and seeing how the new government will overcome challenges and resolve issues.” He thanked his coali­tion partners, Quaid PML Nawaz Sharif and leaders of allied par­ties for electing him as the prime minister once again. The prime minister said his government was facing Himalaya like chal­lenges and the facts about econ­omy were troublesome.

“Our gas and electricity cir­cular debt had hiked to Rs five trillion. The debt of PIA had ballooned to Rs 825 billion. The annual theft of electricity amounted to Rs 500 billion”.

He said these figures showed the gravity of the economic sit­uation. He said the government refunded Rs 65 billion to the exporters, adding the tax base should be expanded while bur­den on those who were already taxed, should be reduced. He pointed out that Pakistan’s tax to GDP ratio was just 9.8 percent whereas this percentage was higher in other countries.

He said state owned entities were making losses of hundreds of billions of rupees and the gov­ernment was paying these loss­es by taking more loans.

He informed that Rs 1.7 trillion taxes were stuck in courts due to legal disputes, vested interests and collusion. “We have to unite to take Pakistan out of the pres­ent economic difficulties. If we cannot take Pakistan out of this situation history will not forgive us,” he remarked. “Our target is to change condition of the nation and we have to present our pro­posals to friendly countries to at­tract investment.” In his remarks, co-chairperson of Pakistan Peo­ples Party Asif Ali Zardari said his party would support the prime minister as he would work to steer Pakistan on the path of progress. He was of the view that Pakistan could make economic progress with growth in the ag­riculture sector. He mentioned that history was amended with the Supreme Court judgment in the reference on judicial murder of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Speaking on the occasion, Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari said last time during his presidential tenure, his father Asif Zardari gave up his powers in favour of the Parliament. Asif Zardari would be elected as the civilian president for the second time, he noted. He said econo­my and reconciliation in Paki­stani politics would be priority of the coalition government. He thanked the political parties for supporting Asif Zardari for the presidential election.

PM for removing hurdles to expedite privatisation process Prime Minister Muhammad She­hbaz Sharif on Thursday stressed for expediting the privatisation process of those State Owned En­terprises (SOEs), causing con­stant dent to the national exche­quer, to stabilize the national economy and provide maximum relief to the common man. “Ob­stacles in the process of privati­sation be removed at the earliest so that the country and the nation can get rid of losses of billions of rupees and improve the econom­ic condition,” he said while chair­ing a high level meeting on priva­tisation. The prime minister also directed to take immediate steps for enhancing the capacity of de­partments linked with the priva­tisation process.

Reviewing the complete list and progress report of all the in­stitutions involved in the privati­sation process, the prime minis­ter directed to submit the detail of actions and goals with a clear determination of time frame. 

He also directed the Privatiza­tion Commission and the Ministry to present pending issues related to the privatization to the cabinet soon after its formation for time­ly decisions as there was no room for further delay. Shehbaz Sharif, on the proposal of handing over the power distribution compa­nies to the provinces, directed to constitute a review committee, which would submit its recom­mendations to the prime minis­ter. He made it clear that the re­sponsibility of the privatisation process lied totally upon the Pri­vatisation Commission and the Ministry. He also directed to re­move all the bottlenecks in the process. He also stressed to en­sure transparency of the privati­sation process at the institutional level and to adopt effective inter­national standards of its moni­toring. The prime minister said that the country and its people were compelled to pay the heavy price of loss-making institutions, urging the quarters concerned to play their sincere role in get­ting rid of them. He made it clear that quality, transparency and na­tional interest would be kept su­preme, stressing the need for cre­ating an environment of business competition and serving the pub­lic, terming them essential for im­provement. “The ministries and institutions should suggest solu­tions exhibiting professionalism and passion as it is a matter of Pa­kistan’s betterment.” The meet­ing took an overview of the latest situation on the process of privat­ization of Pakistan Internation­al Airlines (PIA), House Building Finance Corporation, First Wom­an Bank, Roosevelt Hotel, Heavy Electrical Complex, power plants & distribution companies, Paki­stan Steel Mills Corporation and other loss-making institutions. It also deliberated over the progress made so far and the obstacles confronted in this regard. The Secretary of the Ministry of Pri­vatization and other relevant offi­cials gave a briefing. The meeting was informed that one of the main reasons for delay in the process of privatization was the stay or­ders issued by courts. The prime minister directed to make the le­gal team effective and asked the Ministry of Law to suggest appro­priate measures accordingly. The meeting was apprised that March 5 was the last date for receiving bids for outsourcing the airport.