Business

Here’s how you can get essential food items at subsidised rates

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

Under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s relief package, essential food items will be provided at subsidised rates at the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) outlets across the country from today (Sunday).

Keeping in mind the difficulties and problems faced by the people, PM Shehbaz announced the provision of targeted subsidies on basic food items through USC. These items include flour, sugar, ghee, rice and pulses.

Consumers enrolled in the Benazir Income support Programme (BISP) are eligible to get food items at subsidised rates from the USC outlets.

The corporation has asked its all customers to SMS their CNIC numbers from their mobile phones to 5566 and they will receive a one-time password after which they can avail subsidy and purchase items.

In June 2022, the premier decided in principle that the government would provide flour, ghee, cooking oil, pulses, rice and sugar at low prices during the fiscal year 2022-23.

Details of the package

For the registered consumers with BISP, the essential food items will be available at the following rates:

Flour — Rs400 per 10 kg bag
Ghee — Rs300 per kg
Sugar — Rs70 per kg

Meanwhile, Rs15 to Rs20 will be saved on rice and pulses per kg, however, the monthly purchase limit for the consumers is also fixed.

According to the purchase limits, a consumer would be able to purchase 40kg of flour, 5kg of sugar and 5kg of ghee monthly, besides, all other consumers of Utility Stores Corporation will also be provided subsidies on these five food items under the relief package.

For the other consumers, the prices will be as follows:

Flour — Rs648 per 10kg bag
Ghee — Rs375 per kg
Sugar — Rs 89 per kg

Whereas, a Rs15 to Rs20 per kg discount on the purchase of pulses and rice will also be provided to consumers other than those registered with BISP.

The monthly purchase limit for these consumers is also set according to which they can buy 20kg of flour, 3kg of sugar, and 3kg of ghee.

For the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the flour will be provided for Rs400 per 10 kg bag at all the sales points and mobile stores established on the instruction of the prime minister.

Business

Donald Lu visits Finance Minister Aurangzeb at the World Bank headquarters.

Published

17 hours ago

Farwa

Wednesday saw Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb meet US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Elizabeth Horst.

The finance minister briefed US officials on Pakistan’s reform plan at the World Bank. Meeting both delegations decided to improve bilateral ties.

Meeting topics included alternative energy, agriculture, climate, and tech industry. Boosting the Pakistan-US economic partnership was another finance ministry priority.

With US officials, Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb addressed IT, agriculture, and other business potential.

Pakistan would collaborate with the US International Development Finance Corporation and Exim Bank, according to Muhammad Aurangzeb.

His name is Donald Lu.
Over 30 years of US government service for Lu as a foreign service officer.

What Pakistan calls the “cipher” dispute involves the American official. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder claimed that a supposed official letter between Washington and Islamabad proved his ousting as PM was a US conspiracy.

Washington has strongly refuted Khan’s allegations.

The State Department’s top South and Central Asia diplomat is Donald Lu, assistant secretary of state.

Business

Huge investment potential exists in the telecom and IT sectors. Shaza Fatima

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

According to Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication, there are numerous investment prospects in Pakistan’s IT and telecom sectors.

She noted that the current administration is dedicated to fostering foreign investment in the nation, in line with the Prime Minister’s goal.

According to a news release, CEOs Wateen Adil Rashid and Muhammad Shahbaz Khan of Taavun (Pvt) Limited, who paid her a visit on Tuesday, spoke with Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja.

She declared that the private sector would receive complete support because it is essential to growing our exports.

Regarding youngsters, she stated that they are our greatest asset and that efforts are being made to further their growth.

Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates was thanked by Shaza Fatima for his particular interest in promoting additional investment in Pakistan’s telecom industry.

Business

WB pledges complete support for changes aimed at stabilizing Pakistan’s economy.

Published

2 days ago

Farwa

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Muhammad Aurangzeb, met with President of the World Bank Group, Ajay Banga, according to a press release from the ministry of finance here. During the meeting, the minister discussed Pakistan’s progress under the nine-month Standby Arrangement (SBA) program as well as ongoing reforms in priority areas of taxation, energy, and privatization.

According to the statement, the minister also extended an invitation to the president to visit Pakistan, and both parties acknowledged the necessity of a rolling 10-year country framework plan.

The minister also talked on safeguarding Pakistan’s eligibility for concessional funding and future project pipeline during a meeting with Masatsugu Asakawa, President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The chief executive officer of the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Scott Nathan, also met with the minister of finance.

They discussed during the conference how DFC may increase its investments in Pakistan after resolving unresolved conflicts in a cooperative manner.

According to the minister, the government is supporting creative financing strategies to maximize PPP potential and private sector participation.

According to the statement, he gave his word that the government will do everything in its power to assist investment projects by both foreign and local businesses in Pakistan.