ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday announced that savings from the recent decline in international petroleum prices will not be passed on to consumers but instead redirected to fund key infrastructure projects in southwestern Balochistan province.
According to a Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) statement issued on Tuesday, the premier chaired the federal cabinet meeting in Islamabad.
Speaking during the cabinet meeting, the Prime Minister announced that the funds saved from the global oil price dip would be used to dualise the strategic N-25 Highway — the Chaman–Quetta–Kalat–Khuzdar–Karachi route so that the people of Balochistan can get the best travel facilities.
“The initiative is aimed to provide better travel facilities to the people of Balochistan,” the statement read.
The Prime Minister directed that the national highway be reconstructed to the standards of a motorway.
PM Shehbaz went on to say the savings will also be used to complete Phase 2 of the Kachhi Canal, which will irrigate hundreds of acres of land in Balochistan province and bring prosperity to the province and Pakistan as a whole.
Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti, who was a special guest at the federal cabinet meeting, thanked the Prime Minister for the N-25 rehabilitation project and other development projects for the people of Balochistan.
Meanwhile, the federal cabinet approved the amendment to the Petroleum Products (Petroleum Levy) Ordinance 1961 on the recommendation of the Petroleum Division. This amendment will increase national revenues.
The cabinet also approved the Sustainable Investment Sukuk Framework for the issuance of domestic securities of the government on the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance.
This framework will be helpful in issuing Sukuk for sustainable investment locally, under which projects related to the sustainable environment and renewable energy can be funded.
This framework will prove to be an important milestone in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, Nationally Determined Contributions 2021 and National Adaptation Plan 2023.
The cabinet also approved sending the bill to the Parliament regarding the establishment of the National Agri-Trade and Food Safety Authority on the recommendation of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research.
