PPP, PML-N negotiators make no headway

Finance minister says govt has shown sincerity by assigning 5 cabinet ministers.

ISLAMABAD: After over a four-hour-long meeting on Wednesday, the chief negotiators of the government and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) made no headway on economic reform decisions.

“We are trying to enhance the pace of progress on the ten-point economic reforms agenda,” Senator Ishaq Dar told the media.

Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said that the government has shown sincerity by assigning five cabinet ministers to the meeting. But when he was asked about the outcome of these talks, since 23 days have passed out of the 45-day PML-N deadline, he said: “These are complex issues that require homework and leadership input before any decision.”

There was also no progress on the issues of downsizing the cabinet, revenue generation, return of defaulting loans, energy plan formulation and restructuring of eight public sector enterprises. However, as an outcome of these parleys, the government, under pressure from the opposition, has again started subsidising petroleum products.

Shaikh said both sides reviewed the PML-N agenda at length and showed ‘satisfaction on seriously continuing the dialogue’. The finance minister added that preliminary level discussions also took place on cutting the federal and Punjab governments’ expenses.

On a question regarding the extent of trust his party put in the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Dar said that the PML-N can either rely on past experiences or look forward to driving the country out of the economic crisis.

Dar said that the government did not discuss the issue of levying the reformed General Sales Tax, showing how serious the PPP was about resolving economic issues.

He said the government will notify the appointment of a parliamentary committee on the election commission reforms in a few days. He said the preliminary discussion on ‘cabinet right-sizing and restructuring of the Federal Board of Revenue’ also took place. He said these issues will be discussed in detail at the next meeting scheduled for February 8.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 3^rd, 2011.