Islamabad: Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif has said that his government will leave no stone unturned in stabilising the national economy, expressing optimism to overcome economic challenges swiftly in the coming years.
“We have got the mandate to improve the economy, and this is our government’s top priority,” the prime minister said while chairing a high-level meeting a few hours after swearing-in on Monday, according to the Prime Minister’s Office.
He said that an action plan will be prepared on an emergency basis to streamline the country’s overall economic situation and improve economic indicators, adding that the government will promote investment and provide facilities to the business community.
“Taxpayers, who are working to enhance exports and value addition in the country’s economy, are the most important people for the government,” the prime minister said, highlighting that such taxpayers need to be encouraged at the government level.
He underlined that all the banks and financial institutions in the country are being taken into the loop to prepare strategies for the promotion of small and medium businesses so that the youth can be helped to stand on their own two feet.
“Measures would be taken on an emergency basis to provide facilities to the business community, investors, and youth,” he added.
About the loss-making state-owned institutions, Sharif said that government organisations that are not showing growth but instead have losses would be privatised so that they might not become a burden on the economy.
The prime minister said that a committee is being formed to devise a clear strategy for reducing the privileges of members of boards of state-owned institutions, adding that a plan is being chalked out to reduce the size of the government by merging or closing down such institutions that are no longer needed.