Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market continued to remain range-bound today as inflationary concerns heated up among investors after the statement came from Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance that IMF has asked Government to further hike levy on petroleum products.
Textile sector remained under pressure as Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) had already moved a summary to the federal cabinet for ending subsidized gas supply to the industrial sector including captive power plants immediately.
Activity continued to remain side-ways as market witnessed hefty volumes in the 3rd tier stocks. On the flip-side, Institutional activity stayed lackluster. In the last trading hour, profit taking was witnessed across the board mainly led by technology sector.
Sectors contributing to the performance include Technology (-45 points), E&P (-28 points), Banks (-26 points), Pharma (-20 points) and Engineering (-19 points).
Volumes decreased from 469.9 million shares to 364.9 million shares (-22.3 per cent DoD). Average traded value also decreased by 19.8 per cent to reach US$ 75.0 million as against US$ 93.5 million.
Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include HUMNL, TELE, FNEL, GGL and WTL.
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan will emerge from a food deficit to a food surplus country.
The prime minister on Sunday said that the prices of oil, gas and edible oil were not in the government’s control. “However the owing to the record crops this year, Pakistan would emerge from a food deficit to a food surplus country.”
He said that Pakistan had comparatively managed “much better” than other countries amidst unprecedented price hike of commodities caused by the COVID lockdown.
In a Tweet, the prime minister said that an unprecedented rise in commodity prices internationally had adversely affected most countries in the world as a result of the COVID lockdowns.
However, he said, “Pakistan MashaAllah has fared relatively much better.”
Quoting the data of Food and Agriculture Organization, he said from September to October this year, food prices increased by 1.9 per cent, World Cereal Index by 3.2 per cent, edible oil prices by 9.6 per cent, and dairy products by 2.6 per cent.
However, he said despite the worldwide inflation trend, Pakistan’s exports recorded an increase of 17 per cent in October and are likely to touch $30 billion mark this year. Textile exports are expected to reach $22 billion this year.
He said consequent to the government’s timely measures, the non-oil imports of the country reduced by 12.5 per cent last month making a difference of $750 million.
He said due to increasing income, tax collection also surged with 32 per cent increase in four months making the government to receive additional Rs 151 billion compared to last year.
He said according to the latest data, country’s cotton crop increased by 81 per cent during the last four months. In August, the industry recorded a growth of over 12 per cent and companies’ profits by 21 per cent.
“All this shows that the country’s economy is heading fast and employment would be required in the coming days,” the spokesperson commented.
Addressing a question about any relief for the middle class in PM’s recently announced Rs 120 billion relief package, he said the government had already announced a concession of Rs5-7 on every electricity unit to be consumed more than the previous year’s consumption during November to February.
Moreover, he said the sugar prices would fall in the near future owing to record sugarcane crop.
“All these things will appear on the ground in coming days,” he remarked.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) has directed the tax authorities to expedite setting up Customs laboratories at collectorates.
In its recommendations, the FTO office directed the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to expedite the task of setting up of customs laboratories in the remaining customs collectorates and upgradation of existing customs labs as per international best practices.
The FBR has also been advised to assign administrative control to Member (Customs) to save the lab officials from local pressures.
The FTO made this recommendations in an own motion investigation initiative to investigate systemic maladministration of the Customs Administration for failing to establish customs laboratories in the Customs Collectorates as per World Customs Organization (WCO) guidelines, besides failure to upgrade the existing customs lab functioning at MCC Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad.
Absence of quality laboratory facilities not only compromise collection of legitimate due government revenue but also put at risk import/export controls, environmental protection, control of dangerous goods.
The FBR responded to the FTO notice that the existing Customs lab at Karachi had been upgraded and more than 95 per cent of items, such as textile fabrics, yarn, chemicals, dyes, petroleum hydrocarbons, pharmaceutical materials and metals etc. are conducted there. “Few samples were, however, forwarded to other labs, like HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry and PCSIR…”
Crux of the investigation is that necessary actions have been initiated by the FBR, after initiation of the investigation, through constituting a committee on June 16, 2021, to examine the proposals for setting up modern Customs labs in the remaining Customs Collectorates as well as upgrading the existing labs as per the best international practices.
1. Recognition of provident funds.— (1) The Commissioner may accord recognition to any provident fund which, in his opinion, complies with the requirements of rule 2, and may at any time, withdraw such recognition if, in his opinion, the circumstances of the fund cease to warrant the continuance of the recognition.
(2) An order according recognition shall take effect on such date as the Commissioner may fix in accordance with such rules as the Board may make in this behalf, such date not being later than the last day of the financial year in which the order is made.
(3) An order according recognition to a provident fund shall not, unless the Commissioner otherwise directs, be affected by the fact that the fund is subsequently amalgamated with another provident fund on the occurrence of an amalgamation of the undertakings in connection with which the two funds are maintained or that it subsequently absorbs the whole or a part of another provident fund belonging to an undertaking which is wholly or in part transferred to, or merged in, the undertaking of the employer maintaining the first-mentioned fund.
(4) An order withdrawing recognition shall take effect from such date as the Commissioner may fix.
(5) The Commissioner shall neither refuse nor withdraw recognition of any provident fund, unless he has given to the trustees of the fund a reasonable opportunity of being heard.
2. Conditions for approval. — (1) In order that a provident fund may receive and retain recognition it shall satisfy the conditions hereinafter specified and any other conditions which the Board may, by rules, prescribe –
(a) all employees shall be employed in Pakistan , or shall be employed by an employer whose principal place of business is in Pakistan:
Provided that the Commissioner may, if he thinks fit, and subject to such conditions, if any, as he thinks proper to attach to the recognition, accord recognition to a fund maintained by an employer whose principal place of business is not in Pakistan, provided the proportion of employees employed outside Pakistan does not exceed ten per cent;
(b) the contributions of an employee in any year shall be a definite proportion of his salary for that year, and shall be deducted by the employer from the employee’s salary in that proportion, at each periodical payment of such salary in that year, and credited to the employee’s individual account in the fund:
Provided that an employee, who retains his employment while serving in armed forces of Pakistan or when taken into, or employed in, the national service under any law for the time being in force, may, whether he receives from the employer any salary or not contribute to the fund during his service in the armed forces of Pakistan or while so taken into, or employed in, the national service a sum not exceeding the amount he would have contributed had he continued to serve the employer;
(c) the contributions of an employer to the individual account of an employee in any year shall not exceed the amount of the contributions of the employee in that year, and shall be credited to the employee’s individual account at intervals not exceeding one year:
Provided that, subject to any rules which the Board may make in this behalf, the Commissioner may, in respect of any particular fund, relax the provisions of this clause —
(i) so as to permit the payment of larger contributions by an employer to the individual accounts of employees whose salaries do not, in each case, exceed five hundred rupees per month;
(ii) so as to permit the crediting by employers to the individual accounts of employees of periodical bonuses or other contributions of a contingent nature, where the calculation and payment of such bonuses or other contributions is provided for on definite principles by the regulations of the fund;
(d) the employer shall not be entitled to recover any sum whatsoever from the fund, save in cases where the employee is dismissed for misconduct or voluntarily leaves his employment otherwise than on account of ill-health or other unavoidable cause before the expiration of the term of service specified in this behalf in the regulations of the fund:
Provided that in such cases the recoveries made by the employer shall be limited to the contributions made by him to the individual account of the employee, and to interest credited in respect of such contributions in accordance with the regulations of the fund and accumulations thereof;
(e) the fund shall be vested in two or more trustees or in the Official Trustees under a trust which shall not be recoverable save with the consent of all the beneficiaries;
(f) the fund shall consist of contributions as above specified, received by the trustees, or accumulations thereof, and of interest credited in respect of such contributions and accumulations, and of securities purchased therewith and of any capital gains arising from the transfer of capital assets of the fund, and of no other sums;
(g) the accumulated balance due to an employee shall be payable on the day he ceases to be an employee of the employer maintaining the fund:
Provided that notwithstanding anything contained in clause (f) or (g):—
(i) at the request made in writing by the employee who ceases to be an employee of the employer maintaining the fund, the trustees of the fund may consent to retain the whole or any part of the accumulated balance due to the employee to be drawn by him at any time on demand;
(ii) where the accumulated balance due to an employee who has ceased to be an employee is retained in the fund in accordance with the preceding clause, the fund may consist also of interest in respect of such accumulated balance;
(iii) the fund may also consist of any amount transferred from the individual account of an employee in any recognised provident fund maintained by his former employer and the interest in respect thereof;
(h) save as provided in clause (g) or in accordance with such conditions and restrictions as the Central Board of Revenue may, by rules, specify, no portion of the balance to the credit of an employee shall be payable to him:
Provided that in order to enable an employee to pay the amount of tax assessed on his total income as determined under sub-rule (4) of rule 7, he shall be entitled to withdraw from the balance to his credit in the recognised provident fund a sum not exceeding the difference between such amount and the amount to which he would have been assessed if the transferred balance referred to in sub-rule (2) of rule 7 had not been included in his total income.
3. Employer’s annual contributions, when deemed to be income received by employee. —That portion of the annual accretion in any year to the balance at the credit of an employee participating in a recognised provident fund as consists of –
(a) contributions made by the employer in excess of one-tenth of the salary or Rs.150,000, whichever is low of the employee; and
(b) interest credited on the balance to the credit of the employee in so far as it exceeds one-third of the salary of the employee or is allowed at a rate exceeding such rate as may be fixed by the Federal Government in this behalf by notification in the official Gazette, shall be treated to have been received by the employee in that year and shall be included in his total income for that year and shall be liable to income tax.
4. Exclusion from total income of accumulated balance. — (1) Subject to such rules as may be made by the Board in this behalf, the accumulated balance due and becoming payable to an employee participating in a recognised provident fund shall be excluded from the computation of his total income.
(2) The provisions of sub-rule (1) shall also apply where, on the cessation of his employment, the employee obtains employment with any other employer and the accumulated balance due and becoming payable to him is transferred to his individual account in any recognised provident fund maintained by such other employer.
5. Tax on accumulated balance. — Where the accumulated balance due to an employee participating in a recognised provident fund is included in his total income, the Commissioner shall calculate the total of the various sums of tax which would have been payable by the employee in respect of his total income for each of the years concerned if the fund had not been a recognised provident fund and the amount by which such total exceeds the total of all sums paid by, or on behalf of such employee by way of tax for such years shall be payable by the employee in addition to any other tax for which he may be liable for the income year in which the accumulated balance due to him becomes payable.
6. Deduction at source of tax payable on accumulated balance.— The trustees of a recognised provident fund, or any person authorised by the regulations of the fund to make payment of accumulated balance due to employees shall, in cases where rule 5 applies, at the time an accumulated balance due to an employee is paid, deduct therefrom the amount payable under that rule and the provisions of Part V of Chapter X shall, so far as may be, apply as if the accumulated balance were income chargeable under the head “Salary”.
7. Treatment of balance in newly recognised provident fund. — (1) Where recognition is accorded to a provident fund with existing balance, an account shall be made of the fund up to the day immediately preceding the day on which the recognition takes effect showing the balance to the credit of each employee on such day and containing such further particulars as the Central Board of Revenue may prescribe.
(2) The account referred to in sub-rule (1) shall also show in respect of the balance to the credit of an employee the amount thereof which is to be transferred to that employee’s account in the recognised provident fund, and such amount (hereinafter called his `transferred balance’) shall be shown as the balance to his credit in the recognised provident fund on the date on which the recognition of the fund takes effect, and the provisions of sub-rule (4) and the proviso to clause (h) of rule 2 shall apply thereto.
(3) Any portion of the balance to the credit of an employee in the existing fund which is not transferred to the recognised fund shall be excluded from the accounts of the recognised fund and shall be liable to income tax in accordance with the provisions of this Ordinance, other than this Part.
(4) Subject to such rules as the Board may make in this behalf, the Commissioner shall make a calculation of the aggregate of all sums comprised in a transferred balance which would have been liable to income-tax if this Part had been in force from the date of the institution of the fund, without regard to any tax which may have been paid on any sum, and such aggregate, if any, shall be deemed to be income received by the employee in the income year in which the recognition of the fund takes effect and shall be included in the employee’s total income for that year, and, for the purposes of assessment, the remainder of the transferred balance shall be disregarded, but no other exemption or relief, by way of refund or otherwise, shall be granted in respect of any sum comprised in such transferred balance:
Provided that, in cases of serious accounting difficulty, the Commissioner may, subject to the said rules, make a summary calculation of such aggregate.
(5) Nothing in this rule shall affect the rights of the persons administering an unrecognised provident fund or dealing with it, or with the balance to the credit of any individual employees, before recognition is accorded, in any manner which may be lawful.
8. Accounts of recognised provident funds. — (1) The accounts of a recognised provident fund shall be maintained by the trustees of the fund and shall be in such form and for such periods, and shall contain such particulars, as may be prescribed.
(2) The accounts shall be open to inspection at all reasonable times by income tax authorities, and the trustees shall furnish to the Commissioner such abstracts thereof as may be prescribed.
9. Treatment of fund transferred by employer to trustee. — (1) Where an employer, who maintains a provident fund (whether recognised or not) for the benefit of his employees and has not transferred the fund or any portion of it, transfers such fund or portion to trustees in trust for the employees participating in the fund, the amount so transferred shall be deemed to be of the nature of capital expenditure.
(2) When an employee participating in such fund is paid the accumulated balance due to him therefrom, any portion of such balance as represents his share in the amount so transferred to the trustees (without addition of interest, and exclusive of the employee’s contributions and interest thereon) shall, if the employer has made effective arrangement to secure that tax shall be deducted at source from the amount of such share when paid to the employee, be deemed to be an expenditure by the employer, within the meaning of section 20, incurred in the tax year in which the accumulated balance due to the employee is paid.
10. Particulars to be furnished in respect of recognised provident funds.— The trustees of a recognised provident fund and any employer who contributes to a recognised provident fund shall, when required by notice from the Commissioner, within such period (not being less than twenty one days from the date of service of the notice), as may be specified in the notice, furnish such return, statement, particulars or information, as the Commissioner may require.
11. Provisions of this Part to prevail against regulations of the fund. — Where there is a repugnance between any regulations of a recognised provident fund and any provision of this Part or of the rules made thereunder, the regulation shall, to the extent of the repugnance, be of no effect, and the Commissioner may, at any time, require that such repugnance shall be removed from the regulations of the fund.
12. Appeals.— (1) An employer objecting to an order of Commissioner refusing to recognise, or an order withdrawing recognition from a provident fund may appeal, within sixty days of the service of such order, to the Board.
(2) The Board may admit an appeal after the expiration of the period specified in sub-rule (1), if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from presenting it within that period.
(3) The appeal shall be in such form and shall be verified in such manner and shall be accompanied by such fee as may be prescribed.
13. Provisions relating to rules. — In addition to any power conferred by this Part, the Board may make rules:-
(a) prescribing the form of application for recognition and the statement and other particulars and documents to be submitted therewith;
(b) limiting the contributions to a recognised provident fund by employees of a company, who are shareholders in the company;
(c) providing for the assessment by way of penalty of any consideration received by an employee for an assignment of, or creation of a charge upon, his beneficial interest in a recognised provident fund;
(d) determining the extent to, and the manner in, which exemption from payment of tax may be granted in respect of contributions and interest credited to the individual accounts of employees in a provident fund from which recognition has been withdrawn;
(e) regulating the investment of the moneys of a recognised provident fund; and
(f) generally, to carry out the purposes of this Part and to secure such further control over the recognition of provident funds and the administration of recognised provident funds as it may deem requisite.
14. Definitions. —In this Part, unless the context otherwise requires ,
(a) “accumulated balance due to an employee” means the balance to his credit, or such portion thereof as may be claimable by him under the regulations of the fund, on the day he ceases to be an employee of the employer maintaining the fund;
(b) “annual accretion” in relation to the balance to the credit of an employee, means the increase to such balance in any year, arising from contributions and interest;
(c) “balance to the credit of an employee” means the total amount to the credit of his individual account in a provident fund at any time;
(d) “contribution” means any sum credited by or on behalf of, any employee out of his salary or by an employer out of his own money, to the individual account of an employee, but does not include any sum credited as interest;
(e) “employee” means an employee participating in a provident fund, but does not include a personal or domestic servant;
(f) “employer” means any person who maintains a provident fund for the benefit of his or its employees, being an individual, a company or an association of persons engaged in any business the profits and gains whereof are chargeable to income tax under the head “Income from Business”;
(g) “regulations of fund” means the special body of regulations governing the constitution and administration of a particular provident fund; and
(h) “salary” includes dearness allowance, if the terms of employment so provide, but excludes all other allowances and perquisites.
15. Application of this Part. — This Part shall not apply to any provident fund to which the Provident Funds Act, 1925 (XIX of 1925) applies.
(Disclaimer: The text of above section is only for information. Team PkRevenue.com makes all efforts to provide the correct version of the text. However, the team PkRevenue.com is not responsible for any error or omission.)
ISLAMABAD: The federal government has increased the minimum support price for wheat to Rs1,950 per 40 kilograms from Rs1,800/40kg.
A statement issued on Saturday said that to achieve self-sufficiency in wheat, the government has decided to increase the minimum support price for wheat to Rs 1,950/40 kg compared to Rs. 1,800/40 kg last year.
The government believes that increase in support price will incentivise farmers to grow sufficient wheat to meet the national production target of 28.90 million metric tons.
It is also hoped that availability of irrigation water and weather conditions will be conducive during rabi season to achieve this target.
Due to much higher international prices of DAP fertilizer and shipping cost, the domestic price (Rs. 7,300/bag) has also increased significantly. But thankfully, the price of urea (Rs. 1,850/bag) is stable and significantly lower than the international price (Rs. 5,400/bag) because government provide Rs. 126 billion annual subsidy for natural gas.
The government is working closely with the fertilizer companies to ensure adequate availability of both key fertilizers during this rabi season.
Moreover, the government has provided over Rs. 16 billion for fertilizer, seed, pesticide, agricultural loan markup subsidies. These timely initiatives have helped generate record production of many commodities.
“Our hardworking farmers have produced record crops this year. Pakistan has achieved the highest ever production of wheat (27.5 million mt), rice (8.4 million mt), maize (8.5 million mt), mung beans (0.275 million mt), onion (2.3 million mt), and potato (5.7 million mt). And sugarcane achieved the second-highest production (81 million mt).”
In 2021-22 … Sugarcane production is estimated at 87.67 million tons; 8 per cent higher than that of last year. Rice production is estimated at 8.84 million tons which is 5 per cent higher than that of last year. Maize production is estimated at 9.0 million tons which is 8.5 per cent higher than that of last year. Cotton production as of November 01, 2021 is 6.2 million bales compared to 3.4 million bales (82 per cent higher) at the same date last year.
The President ordered the bank to pay the amount to complainant in fraud case, a statement said on Saturday.
According to the details, President Dr. Arif Alvi has rejected the representation, filed by the Soneri Bank Ltd (SBL) against the order of the Banking Mohtasib, and has made the bank responsible to make good the loss of the money to the complainant without further delay.
While upholding the orders of the Banking Mohtasib to pay an amount of Rs 800,000 amount to the complainant, the President stated in his decision that the bank could not escape the liability in a case of this kind, when the commission of fraud with the account holder by its management was established and admitted.
He said that the ample opportunity had been provided to the Bank before the learned Banking Mohtasib to defend and controvert the claim of the complainant and even before the forum, however, the bank had failed to discharge the burden and statutory liability cast upon it under the law.
Muhammad Danish Naseem (the complainant) maintains an account with the Soneri Bank Ltd Sargodha Road Branch, Sheikhupura.
Danish opened his account on 22-10-2018 in the bank branch and requested the Manager to deposit PKR. 2,000,000/- (two million rupees) cash in the said account. Whereas, the Manager gave him deposit slips of Rs. 500,000/-, Rs. 900,000/- and Rs. 600,000/- respectively.
Despite insistence of the account holder for issuing one deposit slip of amount i.e. Rs. 2 million, the bank manger issued three deposit slips saying that it was to overcome the restrictions of the SBP.
Later, the account holder wanted to draw money from his account but there was no sufficient balance in his account. He lodged a complaint with the bank’s authorities but his grievance was not addressed.
Although, the complainant possessed valid deposit slips admittedly issued by the Ex-Manager bearing his genuine signature and Branch Stamp affixed thereon which validated customer claim to the extent that the Bank had not accounted for amounts of PKR. 2,000,000/- in his account.
Furthermore, the Bank had admitted during the proceedings before the Banking Mohtasib that the receipts in possession of the customers bore signatures of the Bank’s ex-Manager.
Despite all these proofs, the complainant was compelled to run from pillar to post and no relief was provided to him. Feeling aggrieved, Danish Naseem approached the Banking Mohtasib for his grievance.
The Banking Mohtasib, under Section 82 D of the BCO read with Section 9 of the Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act, 2013 (No. XIV of 2013), advised the Bank to forthwith make good the loss by crediting the account of the complainant with a sum of Rs800,000/- in pursuance of the findings.
While rejecting representation of the Bank, the President has noted that it is a case of wrong doing and maladministration by the Bank officials and it is, therefore, responsible to make good the loss of the complainant.
He further stated that the ambit and extent of jurisdiction of Banking Mohtasib was spelt out under Section 82A (3)(a)(e), Section 82B(4)(5) and Section 82F of the Banking Companies Ordinance, 1962.
The cumulative reading and perusal of these provisions of law undoubtedly leads to the conclusion that the Banking Mohtasib is to inquire into the complainants about banking malpractices, maladministration, wrong doings, the fraudulent transactions, the corrupt and malafide practices by the Bank officials and pass appropriate orders on conclusion of inquiry.
These powers of the Banking Mohtasib when considered in context with Section 18 and 24 of the Federal Ombudsmen Institutional Reforms Act, 2013 further show that in matters falling within the jurisdiction of the Banking Mohtasib, stated the decision.
KARACHI: Shaukat Tarin, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, on Friday said that comprehensive economic plan is pivotal to regain Pakistan’s economic glory.
“Comprehensive economic plan and political will was pivotal in order to regain country’s lost economic glory,” he said.
He stated this while addressing as a chief guest at 18th Annual Excellence Award ceremony of Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) Society at a local hotel.
He said almost all economic indicators were showing positive growth.
Shaukat Tarin said when the PTI government came into power there was large current account deficit and devalued rupee. The government entered into a tough IMF program with many conditions which initially led to slowing down the economy.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic which also damaged our economy to some extent.
However, he said, Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visionary idea to impose smart lockdown which was recognized globally saved the country from further economic crisis.
Shoukat Tarin said PM concurrently invested in agriculture, housing, industrial and exports sectors. All those areas which promoted employment in the country and resulted in 3.94 growth last year.
He said the government to strengthen industry and exports the government gave incentives to both sectors with prime focus on IT industry and its related exports.
Besides, the government also was going to give subsidies to energy sector for its uplifting.
Advisor to PM also shed light on economic crisis caused by the improper plannings and no execution of policies of previous governments.
ATTOCK: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday directed the law minister to pursue the cases against sugar mills on urgent basis for the benefit of general public and for addressing price hike of the commodity.
To address the ongoing sugar crisis, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday directed the law minister to urgently get vacated various stay orders obtained by the sugar mill owners from courts against the government.
Addressing a public gathering after the foundation-laying of a 200-bed mother and child hospital, the prime minister said closure of sugarcane crushing by three sugar mills in Sindh and the subsequent hoarding was the reason behind the current spike in sugar prices.
The sugar price soared as wholesale rate touched Rs150 per kilogram in most parts of the country and retail rate up to Rs160kg.
Also, the other stay order was against Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) in line with its action on tax evasion and the ‘off-the-books’ activity of sugar mills.
On overall inflation, he said Pakistan was bearing the impact of global price hike of commodities, mainly due to shortage of supplies in the wake of pandemic.
He said the sharp increase in global petroleum prices from $45 to $85 dollar greatly affected Pakistan as the country relied on imports of several items, including petrol, palm oil, and pulses.
Despite such a situation, he said, Pakistan had the lowest rate of petroleum at Rs 146 per litre among importing countries compared with India at Rs 250 and Bangladesh at Rs 200 per litre.
Imran Khan hoped that as the world businesses open up after decline in pandemic following the coming winters, things would improve.
To reduce the financial impact on poor, he said the government had recently provided food subsidies to 130 million people across the country through Ehsaas programme.
He mentioned that other socio-welfare initiatives such as Kamyab Pakistan would provide interest-free loans to two million households for house building, start-ups, and skills training. Also, the Kamyab Jawan is providing loans to youth across the country, he added.
The prime minister said establishment of five mother and child hospitals in two years would ensure provision of health facilities to women on health issues related to gynecology and obstetrics.
He said it was shameful that due to the apathy of previous governments, a rise in deaths of women during pregnancy was recorded in the wake of non-availability of medical facilities.
He said by March, all households of Punjab would get health insurance of Rs 0.7 to one million for their medical treatment.
He termed the health card a proper system where the private sector would also be encouraged to establish hospitals in rural areas so as to expand the network of healthcare facilities.
Imran Khan said the priority of his government in its tenure was to uplift the people and provinces that lagged behind in development.
On completion of five years, he said, his biggest success would be to bring a positive change in the lives of common man.
He regretted that Pakistan in the past suffered the rule of two political families in 30 years that incurred a huge loss to national exchequer.
The prime minister mentioned that under his government, the country for the first time was witnessing an era of long-term planning besides the boom in industrial growth, exports and historic foreign remittances.
Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar said the mother and child hospital in Attock would provide quality healthcare facilities to two million residents, particularly women, of the Attock district and in the suburbs.
He said the Punjab government would complete the 200-bed hospital equipped with modern facilities in two years at a total cost of Rs 5.3 billion. The federal government has already released Rs 2.66 billion to Punjab for the project.
He said establishment of 21 different universities in the province was also under consideration.
Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid said the mother and child hospitals would help the women get timely medical advice and treatment.
She said after 50 years, the second phase of Nishtar Hospital would be constructed in Multan to meet the medical needs of the growing population.
