ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet approved the Hajj Policy and decided to offer a US$90 million foreign exchange insurance policy.
The summary to this effect was delivered by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony before the cabinet committee, whose meeting was presided over by Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue. According to policy, Pakistan has been given 179,210 Hajj slots for the year 2023. These slots will be split 50/50 between government and private hajj programs, according to a press release from the finance ministry.
A quota of 50% from both public and private hajj programs would be set aside for sponsorship programs, it was stated, adding that the preliminary hajj package for the northern and southern regions for the year 2023 is PKR 1,175,000 and PKR 1,165,000, respectively. The ECC also approved two Technical Supplementary Grants (TSG): Rs. 3,244 million for Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety’s National Poverty Graduation Program (NPGP) and Rs. 12 billion for the Planning Commission’s conduct of the 7th Population & Housing Census. The Ministry of National Food Security & Research’s report on the need for urea fertilizer in 2023 was postponed by the ECC with the instruction to take into account the recommendations of the committee the ECC.
The Ministry of Industries and Production’s Solar Panel & Allied Equipment Manufacturing Policy-2023 summary was postponed by the ECC, with instructions to review and revise the proposed policy in light of feedback from all stakeholders. Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan, as well as Federal Ministers for Industries and Production Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Commerce, Mufti Abdul Shakoor, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik, MNA/Ex-PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, federal
