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PM Shehbaz announces special package of Rs1.8b for farmers

Web DeskNovember 1, 2022168 comments

Web Desk (LTN NEWS): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a special package for the agriculture sector worth Rs1,800 billion. The goal is to boost farm production and make sure growers have enough money to live on, especially in areas that were hit by floods.

The package announced at a press conference in Islamabad would give flood-hit areas free seeds, cheap loans, and lower fertilizer and electricity prices for tube wells.

At the press conference, the prime minister did not answer any political questions, but he did say that the package was meant to help people in the country who were hurt by the floods.

When asked if the Kissan package had a budget and where the money would come from, keeping in mind the IMF program, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said that everything in the package was taken care of.

“Most of the things are budgeted and paid for, and we hope we won’t have any trouble with the IMF,” Dar said, adding that the package was exactly what farmers needed right now.

“Dar would beg the IMF,” Prime Minister Shehbaz told reporters. “If I repeated a sentence in English, the conversation would turn to politics, so let’s leave it alone, but we’re doing our best.”

Shehbaz said that as part of the package, the coalition government had decided that farmers would get loans worth Rs1.8 trillion, an increase of Rs400 trillion from the previous year.

Shehbaz talked about the details of the package. He said that Rs10 billion had been set aside to pay off the interest on loans for small farmers, and Rs8 billion had been set aside for farmers hurt by floods.

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In rural areas, the prime minister said that young entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector would be given subsidized loans worth Rs50 billion. He also said that small and medium-sized enterprises in the agriculture sector would be given loans worth Rs10 billion for modernization schemes. He said farmers who lost their land because of the floods would get Rs5 billion.

Also, 1.2 million bags of certified seeds would be given to farmers who lost crops in the floods. “It will cost Rs13,2 billion, and the federation and the provinces will each contribute 50%,” he said.

Shehbaz said, among other things, that second-hand tractors up to 5 years old could be brought in with a duty rebate of up to 50%.

He also said that duties on completely knocked-down kits (CKD) tractor parts would be cut from 35% to 15% for people just getting into the business. He said the decision was made because the tractor business would not lower prices.

PM Shehbaz also said that 500,000 tonnes of urea could be brought in, and 200,000 tons of urea had already been brought in. “The government will give a subsidy of Rs30 billion so that farmers can buy urea for less money,” he said.

He said that talks with the fertilizer industry would bring the price of DAP (diammonium phosphate) down by Rs2,500 per bag to Rs11,250 per bag.

Also, he said, 1.6 million tonnes of wheat could be brought in, which brought the total amount to 2.6 million tonnes. He said that 1 million tonnes of wheat had already been brought in this year from other countries. He promised that the country would not run out of wheat and that wheat would also be sent to the provinces.

PM Shehbaz said that the country had about 300,000 tube wells powered by electricity. He also said that the people who owned these tube wells would get loans with no interest to help them switch to solar energy.

He also said that farmers who use grid electricity to power tube wells would have to pay a fixed electricity rate of Rs13 per unit. This would cost Rs43 billion, he said.

He said there could not be a better Kissan package than the one announced. He hoped the economy would improve once the agriculture sector was doing well.

He said that the package, worth about Rs600 billion, had to be announced because the country would have to spend billions of dollars importing food if timely steps and measures were not taken to increase agricultural yield.

When asked about Nawaz Sharif’s request for Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to get free electricity for up to 300 units and solar panels, Shehbaz said that the fuel adjustment charge for up to 300 units had already been put off.

Tags:pakistanPMPM Shehbazprime ministerShehbaz Sharif

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