Asif Zardari, PM Shehbaz vow to take difficult decisions for economy revival

Former President Asif Ali Zardari met with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to discuss the overall political and economic situation of the country. The leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League and the Pakistan Peoples Party strategized the revival of the economy and the aftermath of the politically challenging economic decisions expected to be taken by the Prime Minister in a bid to revive the stalled International Monetary Program's (IMF) loan program. They discussed the political scenario in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa after the formation of the caretaker governments and reached a consensus that the revival of the economy should be the priority of the coalition government. The difficult decisions needed to be taken to revive the IMF program include raising the power and gas tariffs, enhancing tax collection, imposition of a petroleum development levy, and a market-determined dollar rate.