'Wealth creation' to end economic woes

ISLAMABAD:

Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that government was fully committed to encourage and facilitate different sectors of economy for the wealth creation to permanently overcome the financial challenges.

Addressing as chief guest at the closing ceremony of a three-day Interior, Construction, Electrical and Electronics (ICEE) Expo, Imran shared his vision for Naya Pakistan, saying that his first priority was to pull the people from poverty.

The prime minister said that government was vigorously implementing its plans to promote construction industry and had incentivised the export sector because when the economy moved on, the revenues were generated, leading to jobs and prosperity.

He said that there was time when the Asian Tigers looked towards Pakistan in terms of progress and development and the country was considered as a model for development. “But then the country went hurtling down from the path of unprecedented development,” he added.

Stressing that Pakistan was blessed with huge potential and its various entities performed outstandingly in the past, the prime minister expressed his resolve that the government would take the country to its real destination.

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Underling the need for selfreliance, Imran said when the system became corrupt, it ultimately putrefied the society. “It is called a system of corruption,” he said. He added the countries became bankrupt when the ruling and elite classes revelled in corruption without having the rule of law.

“In those societies a small fragment of the society became richer, pushing the poor segments into further poverty,” he said.

The prime minister said that on August 9, the government would be launching the ‘Kamyab Pakistan’ programme under which the underprivileged families would be facilitated with technical education and extension of interest-free loans.

“One member from each poor family will get technical education, and each family will get health card for free treatment facility up to Rs1 million,” Imran said, adding: “Through micro-financing, they will be given interest-free loans for the construction of homes.”

The prime minister noted that due to lack of planning and consideration by the past rulers, Katchi Abadis sprawled across the country. He said Karachi alone, consisted of 40% Katchi Abadis.

About the steps taken to facilitate the construction industry, the prime minister said that the government had worked hard on the implementation of the foreclosure laws as there was no concept of house financing in the country.

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“In Pakistan, only 0.2% loans are extended for the home construction whereas in India the ratio is 10%, in Malaysia 30% and in the rest of Europe and the US, it stands more than 80%. For the first time in the country’s history, an opportunity is provided to the poor segments to seek loans for lowcost housing.”

Imran said that the government had also subsidised the interest rate for the Naya Housing Pakistan project and froze it to 3 and 5%, enabling the low-income families to divert their earnings to the construction of homes at affordable monthly instalments instead paying the rent.

He emphasised that Pakistan was a country with a thriving market of 220 million people but still it was importing almost all items. “Why steps were not taken to scale up the economy,” he posed a question. “In the past, no one ever thought of the future generations.”

The prime minister said that they had taken steps to increase country’s exports. “A country cannot progress till its current account deficit is overcome,” he said, stressing the need for wealth creation and expanding the country’s financial resources.

“If wealth creation is not ensured, it can choke economy.” Terming the environmental challenge as “a big one and an active reality”, Prime Minister Imran emphasised that the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami was an endeavour to counter the effects of the global warming and climate change.