Ishaq Dar wins kudos over ‘economic turnaround’

Federal cabinet condemns unprovoked Indian firing across LoC

ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Wednesday, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, strongly condemned unprovoked firing by the Indian security forces across the Line of Control (LoC), wounding innocent civilians including women and children.

The cabinet prayed for swift recovery of the injured.

According to a statement issued by the PM Office, the cabinet expressed ‘deep appreciation’ for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for his ‘extraordinary role’ in achieving 10-year high growth rate of 5.3 per cent in financial year 2017 which, the cabinet claimed, was endorsed and acknowledged by the World Bank in its recent statement.



The cabinet approved the appointment of Justice Musarrat Hilali, judge of the Peshawar High Court as the Judge Special Appellate Court, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa under Section 46(1) of the Prevention of Smuggling Act, 1977.

The cabinet approved the proposal to notify the Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company Limited as Development Financial Institution under Section 3-A of the Banking Companies Ordinance 1962.

Ex-Post Facto approval of acceptance of Argentine award ‘Order of Mayo’ by. Imtiaz Ahmed, Additional Secretary, Foreign Affairs Division, was also granted. Imtiaz Ahmed had received the award while serving as ambassador of the country in Argentine.

The cabinet also approved the signing of Inter-Governmental Agreement regarding supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) and the Economic Planning Unit, Malaysia.

Ex-post facto approval of acceptance of awards ‘King Abdul Aziz Medal of Excellence’ and ‘Legion of Merit’ by Saudi Arabia and the Turkish government to Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat, NI (M), Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, was also granted.



Signing of MoU between the TAFE Directors, Australia and the Pakistan National Vocational and Technical Training Commission for encouraging cooperation in vocational and technical training to the National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) was also approved by the cabinet.

The meeting ratified various decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet taken during its meeting held on October 6, 2017.

The cabinet also approved the appointment of six members of the National Industrial Relations Commission.