ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan today (Tuesday) asserted that the time for performance has now arrived, assigning targets to various ministries to improve governance and prioritize projects, especially rationalizing the power sector and subsidies.
The statement came while addressing a special ceremony to sign ‘Performance Agreements of the Federal Government for the Year 2020-21’ attended by ministers and special assistants to the prime minister.
On the occasion, the premier underlined that at the time of transfer of power from one government to another, the previous leadership should provide a complete briefing to its successor.
“When we came into power, it took us three months to understand things. We no longer have excuses. It’s time for us to perform. We will put pressure on ourselves to take our governance performance to much higher levels in our remaining tenure,” he added.
The premier termed the signing of performance agreements a step in the right direction, saying that the performance of each ministry will be evaluated based on the contracts and every ministry will put pressure on itself to meet its targets.
According to the prime minister, the power ministry is the biggest challenge for the country and his government. “The power sector is such a complex and complicated sector; there are so many different things that need to be rationalised and synchronised to provide people with affordable power,” he added.
PM Imran named subsidies worth Rs2,500 billion as the second biggest challenge for his administration. Mentioning wealth creation as the third test, he said if exports were not increased, the issue of current account deficit would remain.
The prime minister also praised the latest data which showed that Pakistan’s current account recorded a surplus for the fifth consecutive month in November, terming it a matter of “pride” for the government.
The Prime Minister further said that another mountain of a burden on the government was pensions. He told his adviser, Dr. Ishrat Husain, that his pension scheme was awaited that could help make pensions less of a liability.
“The government also needed to concentrate on agriculture,” PM Imran said, acknowledging that this area did not get enough focus. He noted that increasing productivity was important for improving food security and giving employment.
“All grade A projects will be followed and there will be no obstacles in them. So we will make channels so that top priority issues are fast-tracked, and if they stop we will penalise ministries,” he concluded.
