Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday that the government will take both short and long-term steps to address the economic difficulties that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) regime has left behind.
“The government would come up with… strategies to tackle inflation and revitalize the economy after the formation of the federal cabinet,” the prime minister said at an iftar dinner at PM House on Tuesday.
He claimed the relief measures offered in his first address as Prime Minister, such as raising the minimum salary to Rs 25,000 and increasing pensions by 10%, were still insufficient to combat the 25% inflation that had hit civilians.
PM Sharif also issued directives for the implementation of the relief package’ which he announced during his National Assembly speech on Monday and decided to form a National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) comprised of leading economists to find a way out of the current economic crisis earlier in the day.
According to sources, the NEAC will be made up of seasoned economists and industrialists including Muhammad Ali Tabba, Mian Nansha, Ali Cheema, and Yousuf Nazar.
According to sources close to the prime minister, the NEAC should meet on a weekly basis, every Saturday. His economic team, on the other hand, urged that the meeting not be scheduled for a certain day.
The PM issued directions to his economic advisers to come up with immediate budgetary ideas to help the country get out of its current economic predicament.
