Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday announced the slashing of petrol prices by PK Rs 10 per litre and electricity tariff by PK Rs 5 per unit as part of measures to ease burden on masses as Opposition parties geared up efforts to topple his government.
Khan addressed the nation as criticism mounted on his government for failing to control inflation and he was targeted for a visit to Russia amidst the Ukraine conflict.
In his address, Khan announced to reduce petroleum prices by PK Rs 10 per litre and slash electricity prices by PK Rs 5 per unit. “We have decided not to increase petroleum and electricity prices until the next budget (end June),” he said.
He also announced a 100 per cent tax break on the IT income by companies, and freelancers and a 100 per cent break on capital gain tax on IT startups.
To promote industrial growth, Khan announced that no question would be asked about the sources of income on the investment made in the industrial sector.
He also enhanced cash support for poor families from PK Rs 12,000 to PK Rs 14,000 and announced an internship program for graduates where every graduate would be paid PK Rs 30,000 per month.
Talking about independent foreign policy, Khan said that he was lucky to be born in a free country. “From the day I entered politics, I wanted a free and independent foreign policy. This means that a nation drafts a policy that benefits the country,” he said.
He reiterated that Pakistan’s decision to join the American war on terror was a mistake and for the first time in history, a country was fighting in support of a country that was bombing it.
Khan criticised his predecessors for failure to stand against the US drone attacks.
He said that Pakistan’s former rulers were afraid to criticise the US as they had stashed their wealth in western countries, and added that the assets of Russian billionaires abroad had been frozen after the attack on Ukraine.
“I want to tell my nation that if you want an independent foreign policy, you should never vote for a party whose leaders have properties and assets abroad. They will never draft an independent foreign policy,” he said.
He justified his visit to Russia, saying Pakistan needed to import wheat as well as for cooperation in the energy sector. “We need to import 2,000,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia. We are also gas deficient…and Russia has a lot of gas reserves,” he said.
Pakistan has officially maintained that wars do more damage to third world countries and urged the warring sides to show restraint and resolve the difference through talks.
The premier also defended the amendments to the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016, dismissing criticism that it was being used to curb media freedom.
“Some journalist wrote three year ago that my wife left me and I filed a case (against this fake news), but I have not gotten justice until now,” he said.
He said the laws were being changed to control fake news and the changes have nothing to do with curbing press freedom, as alleged by the media organisations and opposition parties. The measures to reduce prices came as the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) launched a protest on Sunday from Karachi against Khan’s government. PPP chief Bilwal Bhutto Zardari announced to travel to capital Islamabad along with his supporters to demand Khan’s resignation.
Other opposition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F), have also announced to launch their protest march from March 23. PTI SH ZH ZH
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.