Pakistan has sufficient stock of diesel, furnace oil and motor gasoline for two months: Miftah Ismail

ISLAMABAD, July 21 (SAB AH): Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr. Miftah Ismail Ahmed has said that Pakistan has sufficient stock of diesel, furnace oil and motor gasoline for two months.

Briefing media persons on Thursday, along with Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif after the federal cabinet meeting, Dr. Miftah Ismail said in view of availability of the stock, there is no need to import these commodities, which will reduce pressure on Pakistani rupee.

He said that dollar prices are now coming under control since the government has announced that it will complete its tenure, adding that the nation will see dividends of this thing from next week. The finance minister also expressed the confidence that demand for dollar will be tackled by ensuring enhanced supply of dollar. Miftah Ismail said that political turmoil continuing since July influenced the dollar rate.

Commenting on political situation in the country, Khawaja Muhammad Asif said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has consolidated its position in the recent by-elections in Punjab as its vote bank and seats have increased. He said that the PML-N won five seats, including the one grabbed by an independent, who is also a PML-N loyalist.

He said it should be kept in view that all the 20 constituencies, where by-election was held, were previously won by the PTI in General Election 2018. The PML-N didn’t show tangible progress in the elections as the party didn’t give tickets to its own traditional leaders but by and large it showed somewhat good progress, he said, adding where PML-N had not a single seat has not five seats.

The defence minister said that track record of PTI chief’s approach toward horse-trading over the last four years is an open secret. He said that Imran Khan had once dubbed Pervaiz Elahi as the biggest dacoit of Punjab and now he is going to support him. He is sacrificing his 178 members by handing over the government to Pervaiz Elahi in an effort for coming into power anyway.

Khawaja Asif said that Punjab administration led by Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz Sharif organized the most transparent elections in Punjab. He said it showed their commitment with the narrative of giving respect to the sanctity of vote without giving any consideration. The election was not influenced by inflation but local politics and groups played role in this regard, he added.

He alleged that the PTI government used the country institutions against the then opposition, and continued that “we duo, Miftah and I were victimized by National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Moreover, he said the government has appointed an officer with good professional record as the chairman of NAB, adding they will not breach the trust of people that was witnessed on July 17 bye-elections.

Moreover, he said that everyone knows what PTI leadership did as for as the matter of buying voters’ loyalties is concerned, adding the aero planes were used to transport the members. While on the other hand the allegation of hurling baseless accusations against the government of buying members is not true.