Cabinet orders removal of Mohsin Dawar, Ali Wazir's names from ECL

The PTM-affiliated parliamentarians had been barred from fly abroad in November

The federal cabinet in a meeting on Friday reviewed the prevailing economic situation in the country and directed the ministers to tighten their belts and limit their foreign visits in order to cut government expenditures by 10 per cent.

The cabinet meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, also decided to relax the visa policy and sanction new airlines licences besides ordering for the removal of the names of two National Assembly members from the Exit Control List (ECL).

Briefing the media after the meeting, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry revealed that Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman and United Arab Emirates leadership would visit Pakistan in the coming months to finalise several bilateral deals.

Chaudhry said that a presentation was given to the prime minister on economic situation of the country. The prime minister advised all the ministers to limit their foreign visits and directed them to continue with the austerity measures and cut expenditures of the ministries by 10 per cent.

The cabinet directed the interior ministry to remove the names of three people, including two MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir, from the ECL. Chaudhry said the prime minister expressed his displeasure that the expatriates and foreign investors continued to face problems at the airports.

The two MNAs were barred from flying abroad in November and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) took them into custody at the Bacha Khan Airport. Imran ordered the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the interior ministry to change the culture of creating problems for people at airports.

The information minister announced that Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan would visit Pakistan in January, while Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman would visit Islamabad in February. During the visit, an agreement on an oil refinery project would be signed.

"In past 24 hours, the Prime Minister has had a telephonic conversation with UAE Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Zayed and his Royal Highness Muhammad Bin Salman. And till now according to the tentative programme in January, his Royal Highness Crown Prince of UAE Muhammad Bin Zayed will visit Pakistan. And in February his Royal Highness crown prince of Saudi Arabia will visit Pakistan," said Chaudhry.

The ministers were informed that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the FIA and the CAA were holding separate inquiries into escalation of the cost of the new Islamabad Airport. However, it was decided that all those inquiries should be merged and a report be presented to the cabinet.

Chaudhry said that the cabinet approved the issuance of licences and renewal of licences for airlines, including the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The minister said that the government wanted to ease the visa regime to attract foreign tourists and investors, while, the Information Ministry had already approached the foreign and interior ministries for provision of facilities to foreign journalists.



During the meeting, the prime minister issued directives that funds allocation for the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) -- equal to 3% of GDP -- would not be cut. However, Chaudhry regretted that the Sindh government was not cooperating on the issue.

The minister said that the cabinet discussed revision of master plan of Islamabad and decided that such master plans of major cities of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa would also be prepared. He added that the government would ensure that the rights of the affected people were protected.

The minister said that Pakistan had spent $1 billion on the development of Afghanistan since 2002, and currently a 200-bed Jinnah Hospital in Kabul and Nishtar Kidney Centre in Lugar Province were being built.

To a question, the minister said that Dr Ishrat Hussain's committee was working on restructuring plan and it would finalise its recommendations in due course, which would be implemented in phases.

To another question about the announcement of joint strategy by the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) against the arrest of their leaders, he said that it was a strange approach to demand pardon in corruption cases. "The masses have already rejected them," he added.

Chaudhry made it clear that the government had no plan for retrenchment from government institutions, adding that the prime minister's statement about new elections was reported out of context as he had only said that if a new province was created in south Punjab, elections for provincial assembly could be held there.

The cabinet also approved the appointment to board of governors of the Deposit Protection Corporation and extended the services of Pak-Oman Company Managing Director Bahauddin Khan for three years. Chaudhry said that the prices of medicines were also discussed in the cabinet.