ISLAMABAD: After a JUI-F lawmaker raised questions over the meeting of International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation with the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the judiciary’s help in financial discipline was vital and the meeting was in this context.

“We got the breathing space because of the IMF. We have compulsions, not a choice,” the defence minister said.

“Within our compulsions, we are trying to survive financially,” he remarked, adding that the meeting took place with the consent of both the parties.

He said discussions keep on taking place with the IMF over monetary and fiscal issues. He said the government was making efforts to impose financial discipline, which was also a conditionality of IMF. The judiciary has a big role to play in this regard, he said.

PPP opposes closure of Utility Stores across the country

Stressing that the country is facing economic difficulties, he said the judiciary should support efforts for financial discipline.

Earlier, Noor Alam Khan of JUI-F raised alarm over the meeting of IMF delegation with the CJP and sought to know under which capacity and under whose permission the IMF team met the chief justice.

He also asked the government to tell the House to what was discussed during the meeting. “Will you roll back the nuclear programme, if it is demanded by IMF?” he questioned.

According to a press release issued by the Supreme Court a day earlier, the meeting took place on the request of the finance division.

After Naveed Qamar’s protest over the absence of the minister concerned to respond to his calling-attention notice, Khawaja Asif said he could not defend their absence. “There are some ministers I’ve never seen in the House. I can also name them,” he said.

PPP leader Raja Parvaiz Ashraf expressed concern over reports of closure of Utility Stores in the country and called for transparency in this matter.

“There is a need for transparency in the government’s assurances given on the floor of the House on the issue of Utility Stores,” he said.

Mr Ashraf recalled that Minister for Production Rana Tanvir Hussain had given assurance in the National Assembly that Utility Stores would not be shut down in the country.

“Utility Stores should not be closed as the issue concerns employment of 15,000 employees and 7,000 outlets,” he said.

Mr Hussain said the government did not intend to shut down Utility Stores; instead, the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) is being restructured.

He said the government would not wind up the Utility Stores Corporation and the future of its employees will be safeguarded.

Amid concerns expressed by both sides of the aisle in the House over slow internet speed affecting business and studies, the National Assembly was informed that the government will introduce 5G services to provide fast and reliable internet to users by the mid of this year.

Responding to a question during the Question Hour in the House, parliamentary secretary on information technology and telecommunication Sabheen Ghoury said four new cables will be laid to improve infrastructure.

She disclosed that two international companies, Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology Ltd, a Chinese space technology company, and Starlink, the satellite internet service owned by Elon Musk, have approached Pakistan for providing satellite internet services in the country.

Published in Dawn, February 13th, 2025