PM Imran Khan-led meeting mulls over subsidy on petrol to low-income groups

ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the PTI leadership headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan has proposed provision of subsidy on petrol to the low-income groups as the government prepares to launch a major program of targeted subsidies to provide relief to the masses, ARY NEWS reported.

During a meeting of the PTI core committee headed by Imran Khan, it was proposed that the low-income groups should be provided a subsidy on petrol.

Governor Sindh Imran Ismail who attended the meeting also confirmed the proposal saying that the prime minister was preparing a scheme under which rickshaws and public transport would be provided with subsidized fuel.

Moreover, the prime minister during the meeting said that he was aware of inflation’s impact on the masses and would soon launch a targeted subsidy program.

“We are also expanding the sphere of the Sehat card, Kissan card, and Ehsas program,” he said adding that Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces have already expressed their interest in the proposal while talks are also underway with Sindh and Balochistan.

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Minister on Poverty Alleviation Sania Nishtar briefed the prime minister on the subsidy program saying that mobile points of sale would be established with the cooperation of the Ehsaas program and the National Bank of Pakistan. “Eligible families would get a subsidy on purchase of basic food items,” the briefing said.

The meeting also expressed concern over the hike in flour prices in Sindh province.