Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif assures Bilawal Bhutto of resolving PPP’s issues

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, during his meeting with Pakistan Peoples Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, assured the latter of resolving his concerns related to the federal budget, The News International reported.

Bilawal expressed his party’s reservations on several issues before PM Shehbaz Sharif. He complained despite being a major ally of the government, the PPP was being “ignored” and not being taken into confidence on matters related to the federal government, especially in the budget-making process, and also in Punjab province.

Bilawal expressed his strong reservations and concern about ignoring the PPP in Punjab and the non-implementation of an agreement reached with his party during the government formation talks, The News International reported citing sources. Most of the demands and issues raised by PPP were related to development projects for Sindh and Public Sector Development Projects.

PM Shehbaz Sharif assured the PPP chairman of addressing the reservations. The PPP chief assured the premier that his party would help the federal government pass the federal budget from parliament.

The two sides also discussed the PPP’s inclusion into the federal cabinet and power-sharing in Punjab during the meeting, which was also attended by senior leaders.

Notably, the PPP is supporting the Shehbaz Sharif-led government from the outside and is not a part of the federal cabinet.

Federal ministers Ishaq Dar, Rana Sanaullah, Attaullah Tarar, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Ali Pervaiz Malik, and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb were also present at the meeting From the PPP, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, Khursheed Shah, and Sherry Rehman participated in the meeting.

Commenting on the meeting, PPP leader Senator Saleem Mandviwalla said the Bilawal-led party agreed to support the PMLN-led federal government to the extent of Finance Bill 2024-25 for which it was in contact with the finance minister, The News International reported. However, both sides needed to sort out some political matters, he added.

This development comes as the Pakistan economy is reeling under high prices and rising debt.

The Pakistan government has less than two weeks to get parliamentary approval as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told the Pakistani authorities to include its guidelines in the budget, as reported by Geo News.

Pakistan has approached the US-based lender for a new bailout package while the taxation measures announced by Federal Minister Mohammad Aurangzeb in the budget have been rejected by the trade bodies. However, the government has clarified that it has to meet the revenue targets to get the loan from the IMF. (ANI)

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