Finance czar Miftah Ismail on Friday announced the government’s decision to increase the budget of the Benazir Income Support Porgramme, going up from Rs250 billion to Rs364 billion.

“As many as nine million households will get benefit under the Kafalat cash programme of the BISP for which Rs267 worth of amount has been allocated,” Miftah Ismail said in his speech while presenting the budget for the financial year 2022-23.

Key points

• Benazir Taleemi Wazaif programme expanded to 10 million children for which more than Rs35 billion has been allocated
• Benazir undergraduate scholarship announced for more than 10,000 students for which more than Rs9 billion has been allocated
• Benazir Nashunuma programme: Increased to all districts which will cost Rs21.5 billion Rs6 billion for the treatment of deserving people and kept in Baitul Mal

The government is already providing Rs2,000 a month of subsidy to deserving households under the ‘sasta petrol and sasta diesel’ scheme of the government.