LAHORE , APRIL 09  : Prime Minister Imran Khan has called upon the country to “transform itself” if it is to meet the challenges of the 21st century. 

The prime minister thanked the courts for allowing the government to implement the foreclosure law, saying that because of it, the government could allow people to own houses on mortgage.

He said now, people from the lower income class such as mechanics, welders and others could own their houses by paying installments to banks.

“Because of this [foreclosure law], banks can finance [loans for the people],” he said. “If this law is not there, banks would not finance loans,” he said, adding that compared to the developed countries, Pakistan did not have a system of mortgage housing schemes.

“This means that those who do not have cash in hand, they can never buy their own houses,” he said. Explaining the benefits of the mortgage agreement, he said people had to pay installments instead of rent and in the end, became owners of their own homes.

The prime minister said the status quo did not want Pakistan to change for the better, saying that over the years, the country adopted a system where bribery to get something accomplished became a norm.

He said Pakistan will “have to transform itself” if it needed to meet challenges of the 21st century. He thanked the Lahore Development Authority and acknowledged the Punjab government for backing the authority in ensuring this scheme was launched for the low-income sector.

“The LDA has brought about a lot of improvements in itself,” he said.

PM on relief measures undertaken by his govt

Answering critics who question his government’s intention to establish a state in Pakistan similar to Riyasat-e-Madinah, PM Imran Khan said it will take time but Pakistan was headed in the right direction.

Emphasising on the importance of rule of law, he said Pakistan was faced with a defining moment as the “political mafias” in the country were trying for the restoration of the status quo.

“You go to the developed world, such as the countries of Germany and the UK, there is no one above the law there,” he said. “There is no privileged class there.”

Speaking about other measures taken by the government for the poor, PM Imran Khan said even developed countries in the world were not providing universal health coverage to its citizens but Pakistan aspired to do the same.

The premier said all citizens of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have health insurance which allows them to get themselves treated for Rs1mn free of charge.

“Punjab, the largest province in the country, has taken up the challenge to provide all of its citizens by the health insurance card by the end of this year” he said.

Earlier, speaking about the LDA Naya Pakistan Apartments, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had said that the government is planning to build more than 35,000 apartments in Lahore for the poor.

He lamented that no one in the past had given due attention to the issue. “The government is committed to the welfare of the people and development of the country,” he added.

Islamabad : April 09, 2021 : Chairman of National Business Group of FPCCI, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday said decision of the government to register the whole population for vaccination is laudable.

However, the government should consider start registration of the whole population immediately as it is a matter of grave concern, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that so far government has vaccinated 1.1 million people while 14000 have been vaccinated by private concerns which is unsatisfactory therefore efforts should be redoubled as over five thousand cases and the increasing death toll is unacceptable, he said.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the planning minister has said that daily 125,000 people would be vaccinated after Eid but this pace will also take almost seven resulting in heavy social and economic losses.

He said that the third wave of virus is lethal and there is no surety about more waves in future while the global population cannot be left at the mercy of the virus.

Some western and eastern companies are not enough to vaccinate billions of people therefore all the countries should be allowed and financed to make their own vaccine.

The developed nations and global institutions should come forward for the purpose while patent and IPR laws should be relaxed to keep the price of vaccines at the minimum level.

He said that World Trade Organisation should realise that profit of some companies is not important than human lives therefore patient laws for the production of vaccine should be relaxed as many countries can make their own vaccine but cannot pay hefty amounts to multinationals that have developed the drug.

The developers of vaccine should prefer the welfare of the masses over profit and share their information to save millions of lives which will also bring an end to vaccine elitism, he demanded.

LAHORE March 9 : United Business Group (UBG) on Friday sent  a  set of 40 growth oriented proposals for the upcoming federal budget 2021-22 which would help the government for accelerating the pace of economic activities in wake of pandemic of coronavirus.

Chairman UBG and President SAARC Chamber Iftikhar Ali  Malik briefing the  media here today after chairing core committee meeting of the group said Pakistan’s economy is passing through a challenging phase due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. “The most impacted section of our society is the manufacturers, traders, retailers, importers and exporters and business community are in a distress and facing huge financial losses due to current emergency situation,”.

He said UBG in its budget proposals amid Covid-19 economic scenario suggested deferment of interest payments of the businesses for six months, grant of exemption from the payment of Sales Tax on imported plant, machinery, equipment and components, reducing electricity tariff for all the sectors to 7.5 cents/kwh.

He said It also suggested  that source of income should not be asked on any kind of investment in any sector of the economy for the next two years.

Iftikhar Malik further said that a huge amount of income tax and sales tax refunds was pending with FBR due to which business community was facing liquidity issues and suggested that FBR should speed up the process of their payment or allow their adjustment against payable taxes.

He said that the government had to focus on enhancing business relations with other countries as no country in the current era could progress on its own.

He also underlined the need for enhancing exports, reducing imports and also giving incentives to the expatriate Pakistanis to invest in their homeland and open their business here.