KARACHI: The Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an alliance of opposition parties, on Friday held protest demonstrations against the government in Karachi and other major cities in the wake of the rising petroleum prices and spiraling inflation in the country.
The opposition alliance kicked off its 15-day nationwide protest from Rawalpindi on Wednesday to highlight the economic hardship of people.
Hundreds of PDM workers gathered at the Empress Market in Karachi where a senior leader of the Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam party (JUI-F), Abdul Ghafoor Haideri, led the protest.
Addressing the gathering, Haideri said the country had witnessed a sudden surge in prices during the last four months due to the “ineptitude of the rulers.”
“We will continue the protest till this selected government is dislodged,” Haideri said, adding the current administration had “mortgaged” the country to the International Monetary Fund.
The provincial president of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party Shah Muhammad Shah and Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan’s Owais Noorani also addressed the rally.
Workers of the opposition parties also held rallies in Lahore, Larkana, Sukkur, Mardan, Jacobabad, Mohmand, Ziarat, Mingora and other cities of the country.
In Balochistan, PDM workers suspended traffic at the Quetta-Chaman highway for several hours.
In Lahore, PML-N members staged a protest near Jain Mandir.
The Pakistan People Party, which quit the the alliance earlier this year over differences with the JUI-F and PML-N, separately held a protest in Malir district of Karachi on Friday.
The protest was led by Sindh chief minister Murad Ali Shah who criticized the federal government and said it should spare the poor masses.
“The prices of essential and basic food items have increased to such an extent that people have been forced to come onto the streets to protest against the defective socioeconomic policies of the selected ruler inducted in Islamabad,” Shah said in an oblique reference to Prime Minister Imran Khan.
“The hunger and helplessness have forced the people to come out into the streets to send the selected ruler back home,” he said. “This poor country cannot afford such a naïve, inefficient and ineffective prime minister.”
Pakistan’s opposition parties hold anti-government protest amid rising inflation
https://arab.news/nq8ep
Pakistan’s opposition parties hold anti-government protest amid rising inflation
- The Pakistan Democratic Movement alliance arranged protest demonstrations in Karachi, Lahore, Sukkar and Larkana
- The Pakistan People Party also highlighted the economic hardships of people in a separate rally in Karachi
Pakistan Army vows stern action against ‘malicious’ propaganda targeting military
- Statement comes days after videos on social media last week showed soldiers beating Punjab police personnel in Bahawalnagar
- Baseless allegations against law enforcement agencies part of larger design to drive wedge between armed forces and people, says army
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Army on Tuesday warned it would ensure stern action is taken against “malicious” propaganda and baseless allegations against the country’s armed forces, days after a series of videos emerged on social media showing soldiers beating up cops after a confrontation.
According to the information available in the public domain, a brawl between army soldiers and Punjab police personnel broke out in the Pakistani city of Bahawalnagar last week. The scuffle reportedly took place after a soldier’s relative was arrested by police without the necessary paperwork.
The army said on Friday that the issue was “promptly addressed and resolved” by the military and police authorities, without sharing details of the incident. Videos of the altercations, however, prompted criticism of the army on social media platforms.
Punjab Inspector General Police Dr. Usman Anwar had blamed social media for blowing the incident out of proportion, saying it had benefited the country’s enemies who were trying to create the impression that Pakistani state institutions were at odds with one another.
“Forum noted with concern the malicious propaganda campaign meant to demoralize the Armed Forces,” the army’s media wing said in a statement released after a meeting of the army’s top brass, headed by its chief General Syed Asim Munir, took place in Rawalpindi.
The army’s media wing added it had also noted that baseless allegations against security forces were part of a larger design to drive a wedge between the people and Pakistan’s armed forces.
“We will not allow such efforts to succeed and as per the law and constitution, stern action will be ensured,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
Similar incidents have also been recorded in Pakistan in the past where army officials roughed up police personnel.
In September 2016, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police registered a complaint against army officials accused of beating four Motorway Police employees after the latter issued them a traffic ticket for reckless driving.
Pakistan’s powerful military has ruled the country directly for over 30 years since it gained independence in 1947. Even when not in power, the military remains the invisible guiding hand of Pakistani politics, with an outsized role in decision-making related to foreign affairs, national security and the economy.
The army, however, says it no longer interferes in political affairs.
Pakistan’s key stock index, spurred by hopes of Saudi investment, breaches 71,000 barrier
- The benchmark KSE 100 index reached a record high of 71,092 points during intra-day trading on Tuesday
- Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister arrived in Pakistan on Monday with his visit aimed at enhancing economic cooperation
KARACHI: Bulls at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) welcomed a high-profile Saudi delegation’s visit to Pakistan on Tuesday, as the key stock index registered an all-time high of over 71,000 points during intraday trading as investors hoped Islamabad would attract investment from the Kingdom, analysts said.
The benchmark KSE 100 index reached a record high of 71,092 points during the day on Tuesday before closing 60.9 points down at 70,483.6 level, the stock market’s website showed. The bullish trend followed a day after Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Pakistan on a two-day visit to the country.
The Saudi minister’s visit is aimed at enhancing bilateral economic cooperation and pushing forward previously agreed investment deals with Pakistan. His trip comes a little over a week after Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Makkah and reaffirmed the Kingdom’s commitment to expedite investments worth $5 billion.
“The current bullish trend in the stock market is fueled by hopes of realizing Saudi investments and deposits following the visit of a high-profile delegation [to Pakistan],” Muhammad Sohail, CEO of Topline Securities, told Arab News.
Pakistan’s prime minister, president and foreign minister on Tuesday said the Saudi foreign minister’s ongoing visit would help transform a longstanding friendship between the two nations into a strategic and commercial partnership.
Pakistan has identified agriculture, mining, energy and IT sectors for foreign investment through the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a hybrid civil-military body that was formed in June last year to attract investments from mainly Gulf countries.
Ali Nawaz, CEO of Chase Securities, said other than the Saudi delegation’s arrival, other reasons had also influenced Pakistani stocks to perform well.
“Firstly, positive corporate performance by listed companies, characterized by revenue growth and profitability, has bolstered investor confidence in the market,” Nawaz told Arab News.
He said Pakistan’s stable political conditions have contributed to a positive sentiment among investors and encouraged them to invest in equities.
“Foreign investors continue to accumulate position in equity markets bringing in much-needed liquidity into capital markets,” Nawaz said.
Ahsan Mehanti, CEO of Arif Habib Corporation, said the stock market had gained impressively during the day but closed at a lower level due to institutional profit taking. Profit taking refers to the act of selling a security to lock in gains after it has risen appreciably.
Mehanti said the development had taken place amid “uncertainty over the outcome of Pakistan-IMF talks for new bailout program and geo-political tensions.”
Pakistan’s finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, who is in Washington, has initiated talks with IMF officials to secure a new loan program after the South Asian country’s $3 billion loan program draws to a close this month.
Speaking at an event hosted by the Atlantic Council, a think tank, the finance minister said Pakistan is looking for a larger loan program that would span two to three years in duration.
“We will need a two-to-three period year time period so that we can actually go through the structural reforms,” the finance minister said.
Lightning, heavy rains kill 57 across Pakistan in five days
- Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province reports highest casualties in five days, 21
- Punjab’s disaster management authority predicts heavy rains in province from April 18-21
PESHAWAR: Heavy rains and lightning strikes have killed at least 57 and wounded dozens of others across Pakistan during the last five days, the country’s national and provincial disaster management authorities said on Tuesday.
The downpours, which began on Friday, have damaged several homes across the South Asian country while more showers are expected across Pakistan this week, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in a statement this week.
Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province has reported the highest death toll in the country from rains during the last five days, 21, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) KP said. In Sindh, Punjab, Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan areas, 36 people died in the last five days in rain-related incidents, the NDMA added.
“In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province 21 people have been killed and 34 injured in the last five days due to accidents caused by heavy rain,” the PDMA said in a report.
Due to continuous downpours in different parts of the northwestern province, 344 houses have been damaged due to the rain, the report said.
The PDMA said KP’s districts of Lower and Upper Dir, Khyber, Chitral Lower, Swat, Shangla, Mansehra, Malakand, Tank, Mardan and Karak were the province’s worst-affected by the rains.
It said KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur had directed all the district administrations and departments concerned to provide medical assistance and relief to families affected by the rains.
Ex-PM Khan’s wife alleges violation of privacy, dignity under house arrest in Islamabad
- Bushra Bibi petitions court that room she has been confined to is bugged, hidden cameras installed in room and bathroom
- Tells court she is being subjected to “mental and physical torture which is becoming a serious threat to her health and life”
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi has filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court this week alleging that authorities were violating her fundamental rights during her incarceration at the Islamabad home of her husband where she has been jailed since being convicted in January for graft.
Bushra has been living under house arrest at her husband’s sprawling Bani Gala mansion, declared a sub-jail, in Islamabad since Jan. 31 when both were sentenced to 14 years in prison in a case that relates to accusations they undervalued gifts from a state repository and gained profits from selling them while Khan was prime minister from 2018-22. Khan is jailed at Rawalpindi’s Adiala Jail.
In February, Khan and his wife were also sentenced to seven years on charges they violated the country’s marriage law when they wed in 2018 — the fourth sentence so far for Khan and the second for his wife.
In her petition to the court filed on Monday, Bushar, a deeply religious woman widely believed to be Khan’s spiritual guide, alleged she was being poisoned through contaminated food and subjected to “mental and physical torture which is becoming a serious threat to her health and life.”
“She experienced severe gut pain and a burning sensation in her throat and mouth. She suspects that she has been given some sort of acid in her meal,” the petition read.
“That the sub-jail is predominantly male heavy, with only one female associate at her disposal … It is clearly a form of mental harassment. She has voiced this concern, but it hasn’t been given much attention.”
She also alleged that her room and bathroom had been bugged and multiple hidden cameras installed.
“It is a blatant violation of her privacy, dignity and honor,” the plea said.
The petition said Bushra was only given ten minutes for meetings with family members and lawyers, with five jail staff supervising at all times.
The petitioner requested the court to allow Bushra’s medical check-up and treatment from Shaukat Khanam Memorial Hospital, or any other private medical specialist or lab of her own choice. She also urged the court to order authorities to ensure the protection of her fundamental rights.
Khan was first jailed after being handed a three-year prison sentence in August 2023 by the Election Commission for not declaring assets earned from selling gifts worth more than 140 million rupees ($501,000) in state possession and received during his premiership. In January, Khan and Bushra were handed 14-year jail terms following a separate investigation by the country’s top anti-graft body into the same charges involving state gifts.
An anti-graft court in Islamabad also handed Khan a 10-year jail term in January for revealing state secrets, a week before national elections on Feb. 8. The ruling on his marriage to Bushra and a seven-year sentence each for both also came ahead of the polls.
Khan has also been indicted under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law in connection with violence against the military that erupted following his brief arrest related to the Al-Qadir case on May 9. A section of Pakistan’s 1997 anti-terrorism act prescribes the death penalty as maximum punishment. Khan has denied the charges under the anti-terrorism law, saying he was in detention when the violence took place.
Khan’s convictions mean he is banned from holding public office and ruled the 71-year-old out of general elections earlier this year. Arguably Pakistan’s most popular politician, Khan says all cases against him are motivated to keep him out of politics.
Pakistan says discussing new three-year, multi-billion-dollar loan program with IMF
- Finance minister Aurangzeb is in Washington for spring meetings organized by International Monetary Fund, World Bank
- Meets Pakistan Business Council, Climate Vulnerable Forum chief, Pak-US businessmen and tech entrepreneurs
KARACHI: Pakistan has initiated discussions with the IMF over a new multi-billion dollar loan agreement to support its economic reform program, its new finance minister told AFP on Monday, during a visit to Washington for spring meetings organized by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
An ongoing nine-month, $3 billion loan program with the IMF designed to tackle a balance-of-payments crisis which brought Pakistan to the brink of default last summer will expire this month.
With the final $1.1 billion tranche of that deal likely to be approved later this month, Pakistan has begun negotiations for a new multi-year IMF loan program worth “billions” of dollars, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said during an interview in Washington.
“The market confidence, the market sentiment is in much, much better shape this fiscal year,” said Aurangzeb, a former banker who took up his post last month.
“It’s really for that purpose that, during the course of this week, we have initiated the discussion with the Fund to get into a larger and an extended program,” he added.
An IMF spokesperson told AFP that the Fund is “currently focused on the completion of the current Stand-by Agreement program,” referring to the ongoing nine-month program scheduled for completion shortly.
“The new government has expressed interest in a new program, and Fund staff stands ready to engage in initial discussions on a successor program,” the spokesperson added.
During his visit to Washington, Aurangzeb will also attend the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank, which kick off in earnest Tuesday, with two clear objectives: to help countries combat climate change, and to assist the world’s most indebted nations.
The meetings, which bring central bankers together with finance and development ministers, academics, and representatives from the private sector and civil society to discuss the state of the global economy, will kick off with the IMF’s publication of its updated World Economic Outlook.
“US VS. CHINA”
Pakistan held elections in February this year which were marred by allegations of rigging, with opposition leader Imran Khan jailed and barred from running, and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party subject to a crackdown.
The shaky coalition that emerged, led by Shehbaz Sharif, is now tasked with engineering an economic turnaround by implementing a raft of unpopular belt-tightening measures.
“I do think that we will at least be requesting for a three year program,” Aurangzeb said. “Because that’s what we need, as I see it, to help execute the structural reform agenda.”
“By the time we get to the second or third week of May, I do think we’ll start getting into the contours of that discussion,” he added.
Pakistan has close economic ties to both the United States and China, which has put it in a tricky position as the two countries have embarked upon a costly trade war.
“From our perspective it has to be an and-and discussion,” Aurangzeb said when asked how the Sharif government plans to conduct its trading relationships with the world’s two largest economies.
“[The] US is our largest trading partner, and it has always supported us, always helped us in terms of the investments,” he said. “So that is always going to be a very, very critical relationship for Pakistan.”
“On the other side, a lot of investment, especially in infrastructure, came through CPEC,” he said, referring to the roughly 1,860-mile-long China-Pakistan Economic Corridor designed to give China access to the Arabian Sea.
Aurangzeb said there was a “very good opportunity” for Pakistan to play a similar role in the trade war as countries like Vietnam, which has been able to dramatically boost its exports to the US following the imposition of tariffs on some Chinese goods.
“We have already a few examples of that already working,” he said. “But what we need to do is to really scale it up.”
As part of the structural reform program agreed to by the previous government, Pakistan is in the middle of a privatization drive to sell off its poorly-performing state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The first SOE on the list is Pakistan International Airlines, the country’s flag carrier.
“We will get to know in the next month or so with respect to interest from prospective bidders,” Aurangzeb said.
“Our desire is to go through with that privatization and take it through the finishing line by the end of June,” he added.
If the PIA privatization goes well for the government, other companies could soon follow.
“We’re creating an entire pipeline,” he said, adding: “Over the next couple of years we want to really accelerate that.”
“MEETINGS WITH BUSINESS COMMUNITY”
In a meeting with members of the Pakistan Business Council (USPBC) on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank spring meetings, the finance minister appreciated the important role of the US corporate sector in strengthening Pak-US economic ties.
“Despite the challenges, the government was committed to implementing difficult but necessary reforms to ensure long-term economic growth and macro-economic stability,” Aurangzeb said.
He highlighted key initiatives, including the Investment Policy 2023, aimed at attracting more foreign investments to enhance investor confidence and streamline project implementation, particularly in priority sectors such as agriculture, IT, energy, minerals and mining.
“The new policy would simplify business regulations, provide foreign investors freedom to repatriate their profits abroad in their own currency and receive special protection,” the finance minister informed USPBC.
“He also apprised them of the government’s efforts to digitalize the economy and expand the tax base to ensure sustainable economic growth.”
Separately, in a meeting with the secretary general of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) Mohamed Nasheed, who is a former president of the Maldives, Aurangzeb highlighted Pakistan’s vulnerability to climate-induced disasters, drawing attention to 2022 floods that affected 33 million people and caused losses of approximately $15.2 billion.
“He emphasized the need for developed economies to scale up their efforts to provide additional financing, technology transfer, and capacity-building assistance to developing countries, including Pakistan,” a statement from the finance ministry said.
Aurangzeb also highlighted Pakistan’s pro-active role in mobilizing global support for a Loss and Damage Fund at COP 28.
Aurangzeb also met influential Pakistani American businessmen and tech entrepreneurs and lauded the important role of the Pakistani diaspora in the socio-economic development of Pakistan, calling them “bridge-builders in deepening trade and investment ties between Pakistan and the United States.”
The Minister highlighted various initiatives taken by the government to improve business-friendly environment and attract foreign investment in Pakistan and specifically highlighted the potential of Pakistan in the IT sector as a host to a community of over a million freelancers, ranked third globally in the freelance market and annually producing over 75,000 IT graduates from 250+ recognized universities.
The finance minister also attended a seminar on “Opportunities and Challenges for the Pakistani Economy through 2024 and Beyond” hosted by the Atlantic Council.
In his address, he highlighted the prevailing economic conditions in Pakistan and measures being taken by the government to put the economy on a higher growth trajectory by facilitating exports, increasing remittances, expanding the tax-base, improving ease of doing business, digitalizing economy and attracting FDI into the country.
“Positive trends in the industrial activity, better agriculture outlook, and improvements in the Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) of Pakistan’s major export markets were all signs that the economy was on a recovery path,” Aurangzeb said, adding that the implementation of reforms under the 9th IMF Stand-By Agreement (SBA) had provided Pakistan with much-needed macro-economic stability.
He said Pakistan was prioritizing investment in key areas of agriculture, IT, mining and energy to enhance productivity and ensure sustainable growth and invited international stakeholders to become partners in Pakistan’s journey toward economic prosperity and development.
– With inputs from AFP
