The Prime Minister also stated that those who have taken the national debt from Rs 6 trillion to Rs 30 trillion during the last ten years have done a great harm to the country and NAB needs to probe where this money was utilised instead of expanding its scope beyond capacity. The Prime Minister also complained that bureaucrats are reluctant to sign the files due to fear of NAB. Asked whether Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa would be given an extension in his tenure as he will retire in November 2019, the Prime Minister said it is too early to comment on this.
The Prime Minister said that the government's focus is to impart skilled training to the labour and ensure certification for various categories as lack of certification is one of the reasons for decline in export of labour. He said that labour of the Philippines gets better employment opportunities due to certification and skill. The Prime Minister said that although Pakistan has requested the UAE for provision of oil on deferred payment the authorities of this friendly country never agreed to it since the day first and stated that provision of this kind of facility was not in their system.
About relations with India, he stated that the government and nation need to be vigilant until Indian elections are held and if rating of Indian Prime Minister Modi declines, the danger of escalation of tension would increase.
"We are ready and the nation also needs to be ready," he said, adding that International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions were very harsh but after Pakistan was able to secure help from friendly countries, the Fund has softened its conditions.
The Prime Minister said that the government is separating tax policy from tax administration due to the reason that the officials of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), who are engaged in revenue collection, are also making tax policies. Naturally, they make tax polices which are in their own favour for ease in tax collection. Resultantly, industry went on squeezing and people left industries and switched to trading and real estate businesses. Exports went down below US $24 billion. By separating tax polices from tax administration, the present government is committed to rectifying this imbalance. For revival of the industry, there is a need to separate tax policy from the FBR, he maintained.