Imran vows major crackdown on money laundering
 

By News DeskISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has announced that the government will soon launch a fully-fledged crackdown against money laundering by “plugging loopholes in the system left by the past governments”.“Today, money laundering is the biggest curse in the country,” Khan said in his speech in the National Assembly on Saturday. “Because you cannot keep it [looted money] in Pakistan, so you launder it abroad to conceal it.“You inflict a double loss to the country — first by looting [it] and then by sending it through Havala or Hundi in dollars,” he added.Pointing at the opposition benches, the Prime Minister said those who have been blaming the government for the rupee depreciation should have also told the people the reason behind it.“The biggest reason for the fall of the Pakistani rupee is money laundering,” he added. Prime Minister Khan said the rupee depreciated because the government inherited “the largest national debt in Pakistan’s history” while lamenting Pakistanis have $10 billion stashed outside the country.“Things are being revealed after investigations into the Zardari group, Omni Group, and fake bank accounts. Money was stolen from Pakistan and sent abroad,” he said. After what has been revealed following the investigation into the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif’s family, “he has no right to speak on the depreciation of the rupee”.He added: “These people are ones responsible themselves. Those who are accused of looting from the people of this country, how can they come and deliver speeches on the floor of this assembly? Those accused of billions in corruption become part of the Public Accounts Committee. Can you imagine how we have torn our parliament and democracy into pieces?”The Prime Minister then praised members of the government and its allies for participation in and approving the budget with a 30-vote majority. He especially praised the speech by Minister for Communications Murad Saeed on the floor as well as the work of Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar, saying he deserves being promoted to federal minister.The Prime Minister criticised the opposition once again, and in an apparent reference to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl (JUI-F) chief Fazlur Rehman, slammed the “12th man of politics who goes around gathering people to topple the government every other day”.He added: “Can you believe that you leave behind historic debt and ask others what they did instead? All international ratings agencies look at just one thing: ‘is the current account in deficit’? Those who have left us in debt are blaming us. And then they try to mimic Nelson Mandela’s voice and ask why the rupee is falling.”He said the government’s biggest challenge was to balance the current account. “We have managed to reduce the current account deficit by 30 per cent. Any kind of previous loopholes on money laundering will be closed. We are supporting overseas Pakistanis and our remittances are increasing. We are focusing on investment to bring in to Pakistan,” he said, adding that different housing schemes would be launched soon by the government, which would positively impact 40 directly-related industries.“We are trying our best that the burden of these difficult times is borne by those who can bear it — those who have the money and the capability. We are trying our best that the least privileged sector is burdened the least,” he said. “We have given Rs217 billion subsidy in electricity so 75 per cent of consumers are not burdened. We are giving Rs5 billion micro-finance credit for housing, which will, God willing, keep increasing. By next week, he said, the government would come up with a comprehensive package for the agriculture sector and would introduce Chinese technology to enhance the yield.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/com/cwEr/~4/vzqMIF6fSs8

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