Islamabad (Staff Report/Agencies): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the assistance provided by Saudi Arabia has lessened the financial burden on Pakistan.
In his televised address to the nation, Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked Saudi Arabia for helping them in a difficult time.
He said that the new government faced the immediate burden of paying the instalments of debt. "Had the government approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout directly, it would have to borrow more money that would result in an increased burden on the poor segments of society", the PM asserted.
He said that the government is striving for getting monetary assistance from friendly countries adding that now even if we approach to the IMF, we won't need much from the lender.
Khan said that the government is also in talks with two more friendly countries and hopefully there will be a positive response from them too.
The prime minister said Pakistan will play the role of a mediator in the Yemen war, assuring the nation that the country would not be used against any Muslim country. “Pakistan will try to bring Muslim countries together by helping to resolve their conflicts, he remarked”.
Referring to the PPP and PML-N, Khan said those who are criticising the current government are the ones who burdened the country's economy with their ill economic planning and corruption.
“The opposition parties that are accusing the government of 'incompetence' are doing so because they fear that "their corruption will be unearthed when we do an audit", the PM said.
The prime minister warned that there will be no NRO for any one. He said no corrupt will be spared, as he had promised to the nation in his election campaign. He said unless corrupt people are nabbed, the financial future of the country will remain bleak.
Imran Khan said the unearthing of accounts with exorbitant sums on the names of ordinary people gives the sense of foul play by some people. He said the cycle of taking loans and then to pass on burden to masses will be broken.
The PM said the audit is being made of the previous loans to ascertain the facts. Imran Khan said that the government is making efforts to stop the illegal outflow of money.
He said an investment friendly environment is being created with one-window operations and the government has also facilitated mechanism for foreign remittances.
Imran Khan said he himself is overseeing the mega project of five million houses. He said forty countries are directly associated with the housing sector and will provide the youth employment opportunities.
The PM said that a special package will be announced in the coming days to help uplift the socio-economic conditions of people lower income backgrounds.
He said Pakistan is endowed with immense resources and potential and it will make progress at a rapid pace once corruption is curtailed.
The prime minister vowed that an investor friendly environment will be created in Pakistan where people from other countries will come to invest.
While closing his address, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the day is not far when instead of asking people for loans for our country, we will give out loans to other.
On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia pledged a $6 billion bailout package for Pakistan.
The package includes $3bn balance of payments support and another $3bn in deferred payments on oil imports.
“An MoU was signed between the Finance Minister Asad Umar and the Saudi Finance Minister Muhammad Abdullah Al-Jadaan. It was agreed Saudi Arabia will place a deposit of USD 3 Billion for a period of one year as balance of payment support,” said a statement issued by Foreign Office on conclusion of Prime Minister Imran Khan's two-day visit to Saudi Arabia.
It was further “agreed that a one year deferred payment facility for import of oil, up to $3 billion, will be provided by Saudi Arabia. This arrangement will be in place for three years, which will be reviewed thereafter”.
Pakistan imports 110,000 barrels of crude per day from Saudi Arabia. Taken at the current price, the oil imports from the kingdom amount to around $3bn in a year.
Pakistan, which is facing the current account deficit of $18bn, had earlier this month sought assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to deal with the aggravating balance of payments problem. An IMF mission is scheduled to visit Islamabad on Nov 7 for talks on the size of the loan facility that Pakistan could be requiring.
