Islamabad: The Federal Cabinet on Tuesday green lighted 44 per cent increase in the current house rent ceiling of the government employees, aimed at providing major relief to public servants in the wake of high rates of houses fares in the major cities especially in Islamabad.

The increase would be applicable to the federal government employees from grade 1 to 22, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain told media persons after a meeting of the Federal Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said the initiative was taken after reviewing the increase in the houses’ fares in major cities. Such practice was repeated after every three years, he added.

About inflation, he said the issue was discussed in detail during the meeting which was told that there were the lowest prices for petroleum products in the country as compared to the world. Gas prices in Pakistan were lower than of Qatar which was one of the major exporters of the commodity, he added.

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The minister said the real achievement was that the income of over 70 per cent of the population had also increased significantly.

He said 60 per cent of the population in Pakistan was associated with the agriculture sector and which had an additional income of Rs 1100 billion in the recent past.

The minister said the income of millions of people associated with the construction industry had also increased.

He said the government was reviewing the policy of export of vegetables to stabilize their prices in the local market.