ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, while chairing a meeting on procurement of basmati rice at the PM House, has directed the Ministries of Finance and Food Security to submit a proposal for providing support to the growers by giving them subsidy and soft loans.
The Prime Minister expressed concern over the falling price of the product due to international factors and asked the Ministry of Food Security to consult provincial governments to develop a system for providing relief through subsidy to the growers.
The Prime Minister directed the Ministries to come up with a plan within six weeks through which cost of agricultural inputs can be brought down to make the grower comfortable in the local market and competitive in the international market.
Sharif said that the government would further reduce the prices of petroleum products next month. He said that the reduction in prices of petroleum products would benefit the growers through depreciation in power bills of tube-wells.
The prime minister further said that the government would also announce a reasonable cut in the prices of petroleum products.
He termed the recent signing of billions of dollars agreements with China a ‘game-changer’ and said the establishment of power houses and factories would prove historic in terms of elimination of the longstanding problem of load-shedding.
Nawaz said it was very unfortunate that due to the sit-ins Chinese President Xi Jinping had to postpone his planned visit to Pakistan. But on the invitation of the Chinese president, he added, he visited Beijing to sign a slew of agreements worth billions of dollars.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the government would further reduce the prices of petroleum products next month, which would help check inflation and give ease to the masses.
Nawaz Sharif also referred to the cut in prices of petroleum products last month, which eased inflationary pressures on the masses, and said the government wanted to give maximum relief to the people.
