 "Shehbaz Sharif")
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said a deep surgery is required to pull the cash-strapped country out of the economic crisis and urged his Cabinet members to either perform or perish.
The prime minister inducted 19 members into his Cabinet earlier in the day, ending the tenuous wait for the completion of government formation in the country.
Addressing the maiden cabinet meeting, Shehbaz said Pakistan is facing massive challenges and a deep surgery is required to pull the country out of the economic crisis.
Taking stock of the issues and problems affecting the economy and the country, the prime minister asked his Cabinet members to perform or perish, saying that the time is now or never.
Shehbaz said the government should take difficult decisions and that too without wasting any time. Deep surgery is needed as antibiotics will not work, he said.
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Shehbaz said bringing inflation under control is the biggest challenge, however, the government together with the provincial administrations would consider ways how to manage the prices of the essentials.
This is our first test, he said.
Shehbaz also indicated likely privatisation of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on priority basis as the national flag carrier was causing more than Rs 850 billion annual losses to the government.
The premier said taking up the federal ministries was not a matter of dividing ministries among each other but for a united cause.
Newly-elected President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath to 19 members of the Cabinet at a ceremony held in the President's House and was attended by former Prime Minister Sharif among others.
Those who took oath included Ishaq Dar, Khawaja Asif, Ahsan Iqbal, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Azam Tarar, Rana Tanvir, Mohsin Naqvi, Ahad Cheema, Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Riaz Prizada, Qaiser Sheikh, Shaza Fatima, Aleem Khan, Jam Kamal, Amir Muqam, Awais Leghari, Atta Tarar, Salik Hussian and Musaddiq Malik.
Muhammad Aurangzeb has been allocated the finance ministry, while Ishaq Dar has been allocated the foreign ministry.
Dar was present in the meeting of Prime Minister Shehbaz with Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Ahmad Al-Malkiy who called on the premier. It was also mentioned by the prime minister in his address to the Cabinet that the foreign minister was present in the meeting with the Saudi envoy.
Earlier, the Cabinet in one of its first decisions approved the reinstatement of Pakistani citizenship to finance minister Aurangzeb, a Dutch national residing in the Netherlands, based on the recommendation of the Ministry of Interior.
Prime Minister Shehbaz also directed immediate formation of a committee to control the prices of essential food items in the country. He ordered that the committee, in collaboration with the provincial governments, will strictly monitor the prices of essential food items.
He emphasised that strict action will be taken against unjustified price increase and profiteering in essential commodities and in response to a recommendation by the Ministry of Commerce, the Cabinet approved a restriction on the export of onions and bananas until 15th of next month.
