ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to review progress on development projects in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, ARY NEWS reported.
The meeting was attended by Adviser to PM on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Energy Minister Omar Ayub, Chairman CPEC Authority Asim Saleem Bajwa, Chief Minister KP Mahmood Khan, provincial ministers and chief secretary.
The meeting reviewed the issues faced by the province pertaining to budget-deficit and lack of provincial resources. The prime minister was apprised over progress in Rashkai special economic zone project as the meeting discussed other projects including Swat Motorway phase-II and energy projects.
The meeting also reviewed progress on ongoing projects in erstwhile FATA areas now merged into KP province.
Finance Minister KP briefed the meeting that revenue and expenditure balance of the province remain disturbed due to coronavirus pandemic as he demanded of the federal government to support them in overcoming budget deficit.
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Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that completing projects in erstwhile FATA areas was their top priority.
“The masses should be made aware of current economic situation amid coronavirus pandemic,” the premier said as he directed the provincial authorities to expedite institutional reforms process to overcome extraordinary expenditures incurred by the departments.
He further asked the province to ensure that uplift budget remains less affected due to the ongoing situation and directed them to adopt out of the box solutions to resolve the issue.
“Private sector should be included in public sector projects in order to lessen the financial burden on the government,” he said while suggesting to devise an energy policy after consultation process.
News Stories Posted by ARY News Digital Team
