PM TO ADDRESS NATION TONIGHT AT 9:15PM

By Muhammad YaseenPublished On 06 Jan 2023

ISLAMABAD (9 News) – Prime Minister Imran Khan will address the nation on Tuesday night (tonight).

According to Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Political Affairs Naeemul Haque, PM Imran Khan will address at 9:15pm and take the nation into confidence over current political and economic situation.

He said that the premier to discuss country’s overall situation, economic issues and its causes in his address.

Naeemul Haque expressed anguish over opposition’s attitude during the budget speech in the National Assembly and added that misbehave had become a trademark of Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).

Hammad Azhar presents Federal Budget 2019-2020

Earlier today,  Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar presented the Federal Budget 2018-19 in the National Assembly.

In his budget speech, he started off by shedding light on the gloomy economic situation of the country before the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s regime. He mentioned that Pakistan’s total debt had reached Rs31 trillion owing to high-interest loans taken by the previous government.

Moreover, he mentioned that the foreign exchange reserves had dropped below $10 billion, current account deficit (CAD) had reached $20 billion, whereas the trade deficit had reached $32 billion.

“Pakistan received a bailout package from International Monetary Fund (IMF), along with financial assistance worth $6 billion from Saudi Arabia in the form of deferred oil payments to alleviate the burden on foreign exchange reserves,” he maintained.

“There has been no increase in exports in the past five years,” he said. “Due to financial mismanagement, the deficit reached Rs2260bn. Circular debt in the energy sector reached Rs1200bn.”

The minister said measures taken by the PTI-led government have resulted in remittances rising by $2bn, and Rs12bn decrease per month in circular debt in the energy sector.

Azhar added that the 11 per cent tax to GDP ratio currently, was the lowest in the region. There were only 50 per cent of SECP registered companies paying tax. “We will have to change this culture.”

Hammad Azhar has delineated the key points for Budget 2020, saying the government’s key priorities were public welfare and well being and reducing the external deficit.