ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday launched a Rs20 billion ($71.4 million) relief package for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan in Pakistan, which aims to benefit 4 million families across the South Asian country.
Fasting during Ramadan is one of the five pillars of Islam, wherein Muslims abstain from food and drink from sunrise till sunset for a month. The holy month begins in Pakistan on Sunday.
While consumer inflation in Pakistan declined to 2.4 percent in Jan., compared to 24 percent in the same period last year, many Pakistanis say they are still feeling the pinch.
The Pakistani government has decided to provide Rs5,000 ($17.87) each to around 4 million families across the country to support them during the month of Ramadan, according to officials.
“It is a great blessing of Almighty Allah that inflation has dropped down in this Ramadan as compared to the last year. This year, around Rs20 billion have been allocated for this package, which would benefit 40 lakh families,” Sharif said at the launching ceremony.
“This would cover the whole of Pakistan, all provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir. This amount will be distributed among deserving people in all these areas through the digital [wallet] system.”
The development comes as Pakistan treads a long path to economic recovery after being stabilized under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program secured last year. An IMF mission is due to arrive in Islamabad next week for the first review of the facility.
Pakistan’s consumer inflation is expected to remain stable and maintain a downward trajectory compared to the previous year, the finance ministry said in its monthly economic outlook report on Feb. 27.
Sharif thanked all government institutions, international partners and tech companies for their efforts in distributing the funds among deserving families under the Ramadan relief package.
“All those tech companies, which provided their technical support in implementing this system, I thank them all,” Sharif said.
“I believe there are our foreign partners, also international partners, also sitting here. I would like to also thank them for their cooperation and partnership in this very noble cause.”
Pakistan launches Rs20 billion Ramadan relief package for needy families
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Pakistan launches Rs20 billion Ramadan relief package for needy families
- Development comes amid a decline in consumer inflation in the South Asian country
- But many Pakistanis say they are still feeling the pinch ahead of the start of Ramadan
Amid Middle East tensions, Pakistan says viral notice on temporary port shutdown is fake
- Viral fake notification claimed Pakistan suspended port entries until Mar. 10 over Middle East situation
- Tensions have surged in the region after US and Israel bombed Iran and killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information ministry on Thursday dismissed as fabricated a notice circulating on social media platforms about Islamabad suspending all types of entry at the country’s ports, clarifying that no such order has been issued.
The clarification came after a notification that stated it was from the Cabinet Division went viral on social media. It claimed that the maritime affairs ministry, on the instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office, decided to order the temporary suspension of all types of entries at Pakistan’s ports till Mar. 10.
The notification claimed that the decision was applicable on the Karachi Port Trust, Port Qasim Authority, Gwadar Port Authority, Port of Pasni, Port of Ormara and the Port of Jiwani, saying the decision had been taken “in the interest of national security and strategic preparedness.”
“The notification is FABRICATED,” the information ministry’s Fact Checker account wrote on X. “No such order has been issued by the Cabinet Division or the Ministry of Maritime Affairs.”
Tensions have surged in the Middle East since Feb. 28, when the US and Israel launched surprise airstrikes against Iran after months of negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran confirmed on Sunday its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed in the strikes as the Middle Eastern country retaliated with drone and missile attacks against US military installations in the UAE, Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan has dismissed fears of a fuel shortage in the country, after the Strait of Hormuz was shut by Iran amid escalating hostilities between Tehran, the US and Israel. The conflict has disrupted tanker traffic through one of the world’s most important oil chokepoints.
Pakistan, which imports most of its fuel from Middle Eastern nations, has moved quickly to ensure its stock of petroleum products does not take a massive hit.
Pakistan has asked Saudi Arabia for help in securing crude oil supplies through the Red Sea port of Yanbu, the petroleum ministry said on Wednesday.
Pakistan’s Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority has also allowed oil companies to regulate supply to their retail outlets to prevent hoarding and artificial price hikes as tensions in the Gulf surge.
