ISLAMABAD: Vowing to increase salary structure of the bureaucracy and wealth creation in the country, Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Monday that in 1935 commissioners and brigadiers were getting such a hefty monthly salary that they could buy 70 tolas of gold.

“In 1935 commissioners and brigadiers could buy 70 tolas of gold with their monthly salary,” the prime minister said while addressing a function organised by the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI).

He said [today] the salaries of bureaucrats had fallen down because the rate of wealth creation had also dived down in the country.

Wants change in ‘mindset’, promises gas and electricity to industry at ‘competitive’ rates

The prime minister held the previous governments responsible for the present economic difficulties of the country and said that nothing had been done for wealth creation in previous decades. He said there was a mindset in the country that making money [even through legal means] was wrong. “The present pathetic economic situation is because of the same mindset.”

Pledging to provide ease of doing business especially to the investors and business community in the country, the prime minister said he could not focus on the problems of businessmen during first four months of his government, adding that most of the time he and his team had spent on finding ways to tackle foreign debts and issues connected with their retirement and servicing.

He said the government had separated tax collection from tax policy making as earlier both were being done by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). “Unfortunately, we utilised our energies in tax collection in the past but no tax reform was made to facilitate investors and businessmen,” he said, adding that it was for the first time the government had decided to provide gas and electricity to industry on competitive rates so that they could complete with their rivals in India, Bangladesh and other neighbouring countries.

Mr Khan said the people of the country in general and bureaucracy in particular had to change their mindset that wealth creation was not a bad thing. “Today we want people and bureaucracy to support businesses.”

He said that if countries like Singapore and Malaysia with total population of five million and 60m, respectively, could increase their annual exports to $220 to $230 billion, then why not Pakistan with a population of 200m could improve its exports from only $24 billion per year.

Promising the business community a “better investment environment”, the prime minister said the government was promoting wealth culture in the country to provide opportunity of wealth creation to investors.

“Today chairman Federal Board of Revenue was saying in a meeting that wealth creation was not a bad thing. I was happy to hear this from a bureaucrat like him because it means that mindset of bureaucracy is also changing,” he said.

The prime minister had said the same thing at a separate event on Thursday.

He said the menace of poverty could not be overcome without wealth creation. “When the money is earned, its trickledown effect reaches even the lowest segment of society.”

Prime Minister Khan said special efforts were being made to bridge the gap between private and public sectors and to reach out to the private sector to revive their confidence in government policies and put in place a framework that facilitated business community in its business pursuits.

Meeting with party leaders

In a separate meeting with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leaders hailing from Gujranwala and Faisalabad, the prime minister assured them of resolving issues being faced by small industrialists and farmers.

He said he would soon direct Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar to hold meetings with PTI representatives in the province and devise strategy to solve their problems.

The prime minister assured the PTI leaders from Gujranwala of establishing a Lahore High Court bench in Gujranwala division.

Published in Dawn, December 18th, 2018