Next budget on June 11 : Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan

Lahore : Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Tuesday said the next budget to be presented on June 11 would focus on moving the economy towards stabilization, reducing fiscal deficit through mobilization of revenue and managing of current account deficit by reducing imports.

Briefing about cabinet decisions here at a press conference, she said
expenditure would be brought under control in the upcoming budget
setting path for public debt reduction.Vulnerable sections of society would be protected and top priority would be to reduce financial burden on common people, she added.

Dr Firdous said Advisor to Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh presented
before the cabinet outlines of the next budget.

The Special Assistant said further steps would be taken to improve
growth prospects and create jobs, adding the provincial governments
which through National Finance Commission Award got a major share of
resources would be taken on board to tackle the challenges faced on
the economic front.

She said ultimately the economic roadmap given by the government
stabilized value of rupee against the dollar and put an end to
uncertainty and rumours affecting stability of the economy. Stock exchange had responded positively setting new records, she observed adding the economic measures would ultimately bring down inflation minimizing economic difficulties of the people.

She said the government would announce a comprehensive and well
defined trade policy to increase exports, reduce imports and balance
the trade deficit.

The focus would be on revival of sick industrial units. In the past,
interests of industries were not protected under the Free Trade
Agreement with China which created a consumer economy that led to
expansion in imports, she added.

Dr Firdous said Sharif family never missed the opportunity
to target the prime minister and this time too at an event in Lahore
they kept their focus on Imran Khan and showed their animosity and
envy.

The Sharif family had a flop show in Lahore and their only agenda was
to raise hue and cry about the actions taken by NAB against them, she
said.

The Sharif family wanted that nobody should ask them from where their
money came, how they made properties in foreign countries and why they
looted assets of the country, she added.

Pakistanis needed to get united on Youm-e- Takbeer – the day when the
country became nuclear super power, she continued.

In an apparent reference to Khawaja Asif, she said a political midget
was always talking against the prime minister but he could not raise
his political stature with such acts.

She said the cabinet decided to bring into use all available assets of the ministries including 31 of their properties.

The cabinet was told that National Accountability Bureau (NAB)
identified and recovered 17 properties from a grade 19 officer in
audit department of Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation
Authority (ERRA).

The properties were made from misusing the funds allocated for ERRA to
build houses for earthquake affected people.