Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved a financial relief package for different segments of society who were vulnerable to the adverse impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the countrys economy, according to the report on Tuesday.
Earlier on Monday, the package was approved in a meeting chaired by Khan at the Prime Minister Office (PMO), Dawn news reported.
According to the informed sources, it had been decided that the funds of the government’s much ambitious Ehsaas programme would be distributed among the poor according to the available data of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and through the under progress National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER) of the BISP.
The BISP is a federal unconditional cash transfer poverty reduction program in the country.
Under the package the monthly stipend of the BISP has been increased from 2,000 to 3,000 Pakistani rupees, the sources further added.
The overall economic situation of the country was discussed in the backdrop of the adverse impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Dawn news reported.
The meeting reviewed different options for protecting the poor and low-income segments of society from the outbreak’s adverse impact on the economy.
PM Khan said that due to present situation the government would go to any extent to protect weak segments of society.
On Saturday, Pakistan suspended for a fortnight all international passenger flights into and out of the country in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus.
As of Saturday, Pakistan had tested 4,046 people for the virus, with 524 positive cases and three deaths. the spread of coronavirus.
Last week, Khan called for unity with responsibility to win the war against coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The country has closed all public and private educational institutions, marriage halls, cultural centres, cinemas, and cancelled all sports activities and official events and also blocked its western border crossings with Iran and Afghanistan.