Cash-starved govt doles out Rs90bn to lawmakers

Amid fiscal challenges, the government has increased development funds for parliamentarians by almost 30 per cent from budgetary allocations to Rs90 billion and is set to distribute about Rs8.4bn to farmers through database of the Sindh government. This was the crux of a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday that also approved almost Rs1bn in additional funding for the maintenance of rest houses and residences of the judges of the Supreme Court of Pakistan in various cities across the country. Presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the ECC meeting also approved about 25pc increase in the price of a vial used in pregnancy tests and an assistance package to families of persons who lost lives during a recent political march. The meeting deferred a decision on a proposal for an increase in the prices of 54 other medicines. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a day earlier said that Pakistan faced fiscal and economic challenges and wanted the IMF support to sail through these difficult times.