ISLAMABAD - Following the President’s recent refusal to sign the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Musadik Malik on Saturday said that the bill will now be presented for approval in a joint session of Parliament.
Talking to a private news channel, he said “Questions were raised on the ruling from within the Supreme Court, which must be addressed,” he added. Responding to a question about International Monetary Fund (IMF) talks, he said that Saudi Arabia had conveyed its commitment to the IMF for its bilateral financial support to Pakistan and the minister hoped for similar assurance from other countries. “Saudi Arabia’s support will play an important role in reaching a ‘State Level Agreement’ with IMF but Pakistan was also in contact with other friendly countries like Qatar, China and others to bridge the financing gap”, he added. To a query, the minister stated that relief measure was planned to provide relief of Rs.50 per liter specifically to small car and motorcycle riders who fall into the low-income bracket. This relief, however, is not classified as a subsidy. Moreover, it is important to clarify that the cost of this relief measure will not be shouldered by the national treasury. Instead, the financial burden was placed on high-income individuals, he added.