ISLAMABAD: The government has imposed moratorium on provision of additional funds for Benazir Income Support Fund (BISP) during the current fiscal year, due to financial crunch, sources close to Secretary Finance told Business Recorder.
On December 1, 2201, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet was briefed about inclusion of beneficiaries under the 2nd phase of Ehsas Emergency Cash (EEC-2) program submitted by the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division.
The Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division apprised the ECC that exited beneficiaries of Ehsaas Kafaalat Programme with PMT score between 29.01 and 37 under the recent National Socio- Economic Registry (NSER) survey may be included in EEC-2, while keeping the total number of disbursed beneficiaries within the limit of four million. The ECC was informed that these beneficiaries were proposed to be provided one-time emergency cash assistance of Rs 12,000/- per beneficiary on first come first served basis while keeping the number of beneficiaries within four million as already approved.
During the ensuing discussion, the Finance Secretary stated that the government is facing financial crunch at the moment. The saving of Rs. 6 billion could be used to bridge gaps in other such programs.
On a query from the Advisor on Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, who is also Chairman of Technical Advisory Sub-Committee of the ECC, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Sania Nishtar stated that BISP will remain within its approved budget and also gave the commitment that no additional budget will be demanded in future, as well. On the basis of the commitment by the SAPM, the Finance Division agreed to the proposal. The meeting was also informed that the Technical Advisory Sub-Committee of the ECC deliberated on the case in its meeting held on December 01, 2021 and recommended the proposal of the summary, Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division, subject to observance of the Finance Division’s comments.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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