ML-1 cost has almost doubled due to unnecessary delays: Finance Minister

Islamabad: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Mohammad Ishaq Dar has said that the cost of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)’s Main Line 1 (ML-1) project had almost doubled due to unnecessary delays by the Pakistani authorities.

Addressing the inaugural ceremony of Green Line Train Project here, the minister said the cost of ML1 was project at US $ 6 billion under the CPEC project, however due to failure to execute; it may cost now US $11 billion to $12 billion.

The minister congratulated Federal Minister for Railways, Khawaja Saad Rafiq for reviving the impressive Green Line Railway service.

The minister also highlighted the importance of commercialization of railway track, which he said would not only help Railways to stand on its own feet but would make it profit-earning organization to contribute in the national economy.

He also underlined the importance for utilizing Railways for freight transport which he said could minimizing the transport cost to a great extent.

The minister said that Pakistan had become 24th largest economy in 2016 however owing to PTI inabilities it stood at 47th number last year. He highlighted the importance of investigating the reasons behind this downfall.

He maintained that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)-led government had turned around economy at a time when it was predicted to default within a period of 6 months back in 2013.

The minister mentioned that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had been meeting many challenges and expressed the hope that he would pull the country out of quagmire.