ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s adviser on religious harmony Tahir Mahmood Ashrafi has said a joint body of religious scholars in the country’s Punjab province had received over a hundred blasphemy complaints during the ongoing year which were duly addressed and resolved.
Blasphemy is considered a deeply sensitive issue in Pakistan and carries the death penalty. International and domestic rights organizations say blasphemy accusations have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and settle personal scores.
The issue has been in the limelight again this month since a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara, was killed by a mob that also publicly burned his body over accusations he desecrated religious posters. The incident has led to widespread soul-searching in Pakistan, and calls by the government for a “comprehensive strategy” against mob violence and the persecution of minorities.
“During the last one year since November 2020, not a single complaint was registered where blasphemy law was misused,” Ashrafi told foreign media journalists in Islamabad on Wednesday, adding: “The Muttahida Ulama Board [joint board of religious scholars] in Punjab received 113 blasphemy complaints [during this period] from various courts and governments institutions in which relief was provided in 103 instances of minor violations.”
About the lynching of the Sri Lankan national in Sialkot, he said the incident was condemned by the whole nation and the trial of the accused individuals would be conducted inside prison.
Ashrafi said a 20-member committee had been formed by the government to liaise with Pakistan’s minority religious communities: “We have made a mechanism where minority leaders and other community members can share their issues and grievances so they can be addressed in time.”
The committee would also work to raise public awareness on the blasphemy issue, he said, adding that it was time people were educated about the real meaning of blasphemy and how to react to such accusations and incidents.
The prime minister’s aide said the government was also working on the issue of forced conversions, saying they were against basic Islamic values.
“According to our findings, a majority of these incidents are related to love marriages and other domestic issues,” he said, “which are wrongly portrayed as forced conversions.”
Pakistani ulema board resolved over 100 blasphemy complaints since Nov. 2020 – PM’s aide
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Pakistani ulema board resolved over 100 blasphemy complaints since Nov. 2020 – PM’s aide
- PM’s adviser on interfaith harmony says government has set up 20-member committee to liaise with minorities
- Says not a single complaint was registered since November last year in which the blasphemy law was misused
Pakistan showcases fiscal turnaround, reform agenda at Saudi-hosted AlUla forum
- Pakistan has delivered successive primary surpluses and reduced its fiscal deficit from around 8 percent of GDP to approximately 5.4 percent
- Muhammad Aurangzeb says fiscal space created through consolidation, reforms is being directed toward priority growth-enabling sectors
KARACHI: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday highlighted Pakistan’s recent fiscal progress, ongoing reforms and strategy to build buffers while sustaining growth at the AlUla Conference for Emerging Market Economies, underscoring the importance of institutional strengthening in navigating economic and climate-related shocks.
The second edition of the annual AlUla conference was launched by the Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sunday. The conference brings together economic decision-makers, finance ministers, central bank governors, leaders of international financial institutions and a select group of experts and specialists from around the world.
Pakistan, which nearly defaulted on its foreign debt obligations in 2023, is currently making efforts to stabilize its economy under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program. The program, agreed in Sept. 2024, accompanied reforms such as privatization of loss-making, state-owned enterprises (SOEs), tax regime overhaul and ending various subsidies for fiscal consolidation.
Attending a high-level panel discussion “Fiscal Policy in a Shock‑Prone World” on the 2nd day of the AlUla Conference, Aurangzeb shared Pakistan’s experience in managing structural constraints, strengthening revenue mobilization, reducing debt vulnerabilities, and responding to shocks while protecting priority development spending.
“Pakistan’s fiscal strategy has been shaped by a history of boom-and-bust cycles, persistent structural deficits, high debt levels, and limited fiscal space,” he said, stressing that it has been critical to carefully safeguard the fiscal progress achieved over the past two to three years.
“Pakistan has delivered successive primary surpluses and reduced its fiscal deficit from around 8 percent of GDP (gross domestic product) to approximately 5.4 percent, with the current trajectory pointing toward a further reduction below five percent.”
This year’s conference highlighted the rapid transformations in the global economy and challenges and the opportunities they presented for emerging market economies, particularly in international trade, monetary and financial systems.
Aurangzeb stressed the discussion around fiscal buffers is not academic for Pakistan but rooted in lived experience as a climate-vulnerable country.
Recalling the catastrophic floods of 2022, he noted that Pakistan was forced to make an immediate international appeal even for rescue and relief operations. In contrast, he said, the country was able to mobilize its own resources despite limited fiscal space during the large-scale floods affecting multiple provinces and river systems this year, demonstrating the practical value of rebuilding fiscal buffers to absorb exogenous shocks.
On the revenue side, he outlined sustained efforts to expand the tax base and strengthen compliance.
“Pakistan’s tax-to-GDP ratio has risen from below 10 percent to close to 12 percent,” the minister said, highlighting the transformation of the tax authority through reforms in people, processes and technology, including the use of AI-led production monitoring systems across various sectors to improve enforcement, curb leakages and reduce corruption by minimizing human intervention.
“The tax policy function has been separated from tax collection and placed within the Ministry of Finance to ensure that budgetary decisions are guided by economic value and policy considerations rather than purely arithmetic targets, while maintaining overall fiscal discipline.”
About expenditure management, the finance minister noted that Pakistan’s federal structure adds complexity, requiring close coordination between the federation and provinces. He shared that a national fiscal framework has been agreed upon and that work is ongoing to strengthen fiscal coordination and discipline across all tiers of government.
“Pakistan’s debt-to-GDP ratio, which had reached around 74 percent, has been reduced to approximately 70 percent,” he said, underscoring ongoing domestic liability management operations aimed at lowering debt servicing costs, which remain the single largest expenditure item in the budget.
“Continued fiscal discipline would further ease debt pressures and help create additional fiscal space.”
Pakistan faced a prolonged economic crisis in recent years, marked by fiscal pressure, high debt levels and balance-of-payments difficulties. Officials now say that decreasing levels of inflation and higher foreign exchange reserves reflect the government’s prudent fiscal policies and debt management.
“The fiscal space created through consolidation and reforms is being directed toward priority growth-enabling sectors, including human capital development, agriculture, information technology, and other areas with strong growth potential,” Aurangzeb said, adding that rebuilding buffers, dampening pro-cyclicality, and sustaining growth require persistence, institutional reform and disciplined policymaking, particularly for countries facing repeated structural and climate-related shocks.
