Finance minister said the government also proposed Rs 1,242 billion grants for the Benazir Income Support Programme.

The finance minister said the government also proposed Rs 1,242 billion grants for the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and other departments. The funds for the BISP had been increased from R 250 billion for 2021-22 to Rs 364 billion for 2022-23.

Moreover, Rs 12 billion had been earmarked for provision of subsidy through the Utility Stores Corporation, with Rs 5 billion proposed for the Ramazan Package, he added.

The minister said around 9 million families would benefit from the BISP's Kafalat Cash Transfer Programme for which Rs 266 billion had been proposed.

Miftah announced 15 percent ad-hoc relief allowance in the basic salaries of the federal government employees, besides merging previous adhoc relief allowances in the basic pay.

He said as the poor segments could not bear the burden of rising inflation, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif intended to give maximum relief to them through targeted subsidies, so the government decided to impose special tax on higher income earnings.

The minister said the government would focus on increasing per acre production of different crops, especially the ones for extracting edible oil, besides strengthening the industrial sector for enhancing exports. 'It will help achieve the precious foreign exchange and balance of payments on sustainable basis.'

He stressed the need for better management of tax collection, while effectively tackling the issue of tax-evasion that was rampant during the previous government.

As regards austerity measures, the minister said drastic reduction in government expenditures was part of the budget for which...