Prime Minister’s relief package, a sigh of hope for the nation
Befiler 
March 1, 2022 
Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Imran Khan on Monday announced a relief package for the nation in the times of increasing domestic pressure from political parties and global crisis.
In his 40 minutes long address to the nation, he talked about many aspects including the geopolitical situation of the world, Pakistan’s political situation, and also the country’s economic health.
PM Imran Khan talked about reducing the petroleum prices with a reduction of Rs.10/Litre which would reduce the overhead costs on several commodities, he talked about reducing the electricity charges with a reduction of Rs.5/Unit which would reduce the electricity bills’ load by 20%-50%, and emphasized that no further prices would be hiked until the coming budget.
He talked about the Ehsaas Kifalat Program, in which the government used to pay Rs. 12,000 to the needy and deserving poor. But now it has been increased up to Rs. 14,000. He further added that the government has decided to provide internships to the graduated unemployed youth who still haven’t found a job. Adding to this, he said, “we are going to give 2.6Mn scholarships in the federal and provincial institutions, with that we are going to spend Rs. 38Bn in this regard and also stipend of Rs. 30,000 to the graduates.”
PM Imran Khan also shed lights on incentives for the IT sector, enlighten it with 100% tax exemption for both freelancers and companies, 100% foreign exchange exemption, 100% exemption from capital gain tax for investments in IT startups, Kamyab Pakistan Program Rs407 billion subsidized loans to be provide in next two years; loans for youth, farmers and for low-cost housing.
He also announced incentives for industries. None will be interrogated for industrial investment; rehabilitation of weak sectors through tax benefits, to attract overseas investment (Joint ventures) tax holiday for the next 5 years; Rs 1 million free medical coverage to all citizens by end of March, 2022 (except Sindh).
In the end, it can be said that this relief will only sound for a short span of time. It will cost the government around Rs237 billion during the four months through June to absorb the impact of relief measures announced by the prime minister.
Source: Dawn news
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