The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet here on Monday approved technical supplementary grants (TSGs) of Rs20.2 billion for the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Program (SAP) and flood-effected farmers.
The meeting of the cabinet committee was presided virtually over by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, according to a press statement issued by the finance ministry.
According to the details, the ECC approved a TSG of Rs.17 billion to finance schemes under the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP).
It also approved the TSG of Rs3.2 billion for the Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) to support flood-affected farmers.
The cabinet committee deferred the TSG summary for the conduct of 7th population and housing census, the statement added.
Earlier in the day, Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue apprised the Pakistani-American IT/Tech entrepreneurs that the government was according to priority attention to the IT/ Tech sector to tap its true potential.
In a virtual meeting, the entrepreneurs along with Minister for Economic Affairs, Ayaz Sadiq, the finance minister said that the country’s tech-savvy youth were an immense resource, which needed to be optimally tapped for the IT sector’s growth.
State Minister for Finance and Revenue, Ms. Aisha Ghaus Pasha; Governor State Bank of Pakistan, Jameel Ahmed and Ambassador Masood Khan along with other members of the Pakistan delegation also participated in the meeting, according to a press statement issued by the finance ministry here.
The minister appreciated the interest of Pakistani-American tech entrepreneurs in strengthening Pakistan’s IT sector. He emphasized that this sector had immense potential for growth and could play a significant role in strengthening Pakistan’s economy.
Dar assured the participants of the government’s complete support in their efforts to enable Pakistan to achieve exponential growth in its IT exports in the coming years.
He said, the economy was the government’s top priority and for this purpose, it had taken tough but essential decisions in the past few months to put it on a recovery path.
The catastrophic floods, he said, had compounded the difficulty but the government was confident that prudent policies would help overcome the challenges faced by the economy.
In their interventions, the Pakistani-American IT/Tech entrepreneurs appreciated the government’s focus on the IT/Tech sector and reaffirmed their interest in investing in Pakistan.
They also made a number of suggestions and proposals to further promote IT sector’s growth, especially exports from Pakistan.
The Finance Minister assured them that their suggestions would be carefully examined for proper follow-up and urged them to remain engaged with the government to ensure robust growth in Pakistan’s IT sector that is commensurate with our potential.
Meanwhile, the minister Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar met Eng. Hani Salem Sonbol, CEO of Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC).
He appreciated the support of ITFC to Pakistan and discussed ways and means to further strengthen cooperation with ITFC, tweeted finance ministry here Monday.
