- Additional amount charged by these companies will be recovered by the govt and submitted in Pakistan Baitul Maal
- A better Free Trade Agreement will be signed with China in order to protect our local industry: Firdous Ashiq Awan
ISLAMABAD, April 23: Federal Cabinet was informed Tuesday that prices of drugs will be brought down after consultation with all stakeholders.
Briefing media in Islamabad this evening, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan said Special Assistant to PM on National Health Services Dr. Zafarullah Mirza briefed the cabinet on his findings regarding increase in prices of drugs and said a meeting with pharma companies and other stakeholders will be held soon to bring down the prices of medicines, so that people can afford their treatment.
Additional amount charged by these companies will be recovered by the government and submitted in Pakistan Baitul Maal. This amount will be used to provide free treatment to poor patients of various diseases.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister said the cabinet was briefed on inflation and rising prices of essential items.
The cabinet decided to check on prices of essential items during the holy month of Ramazan and keep an eye on hoarders and cartels. She said the inflation during the last eight months of this government is still less comparing with the same period of previous two governments. Firdous Ashiq Awan said the Prime Minister directed all ministers to introduce policies in public interest and improve their performance in order to resolve the issues faced by public. She said the Prime Minister has already assigned targets to his economic team in order to create a people friendly budget.
Firdous Ashiq Awan said the cabinet also discussed the LNG agreements signed by previous government which were expensive and not in interest of Pakistan. She said the new LNG agreements will be transparent and based on competitive pricing.
The cabinet endorsed the policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his vision of democracy that is free from corruption and functions only to empower the common man and reduces their issues.
Referring to Prime Minister’s upcoming visit to China, Firdous Ashiq Awan said a better Free Trade Agreement will be signed with China in order to protect our local industry.
She said the previous agreement signed did not cater to the interests of local industry. However, due to successful diplomacy of the Prime Minister, China has agreed to sign an FTA on the pattern of one that is with ASEAN countries and is on much better terms.
The Advisor on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood apprised the cabinet that 450 Pakistani businessmen will visit China to look for business opportunities that would translate into more production, job opportunities and poverty reduction in the country.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister said the cabinet members congratulated the Prime Minister on his successful visit to Iran which was extremely important in present context.
She said we have to increase our trade with immediate neighbours to reap the bilateral benefits. She said the visit also proved successful in removing the misunderstandings between the two brotherly countries. NNI
