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ISLAMABAD: The government “had no other alternative” than to carry out the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday.
He regretted that they had to approach the IMF, “which is a factor and a terrible reality,” if they wanted to provide any subsidies in any area.
He said that the coalition government had never intended to shift the cost of price increases. The PTI government has in the past flagrantly broken the terms of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The prime minister also said that a plan had been developed to instantly switch all federal government buildings over to solar power by April 2019 to significantly reduce the nation’s expensive fuel import bill, which is now estimated to be approximately $27 billion.
The prime minister revealed more information, stating that the procedures for switching to solar power should be expedited since they had set April 2023 as the deadline for doing so.
The prime minister announced the proposal during a symposium on solarization, stating that all federal government ministries, agencies, and authorities, as well as their provincial offshoots, will immediately switch to solar energy.
He said that since the federal government would not incur further costs beyond the solarization process, it would serve as a model for the other provincial governments.
The prime minister also asked the relevant agencies and parties to achieve the deadline set and finish the necessary procedure by the end of April 2019.
