Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said that the government has initiated the pension reforms to avoid snowballing the pension budget which has reached eight hundred billion rupees this year.

Responding to the points of Minister for Water Resources Khurshid Shah in the National Assembly, he said these pension reforms including establishment of pension fund and abolishing multiple pensions for government officers of grade 17 and above are the need of the country.

Describing agriculture as the driver of growth, the Finance Minister said the country has stocks of DAP fertilizer to meet the requirements of farmers. He said the government has provided subsidy to the farmers on the DAP.

Taking the floor, Minister for Communications Asad Mahmood said periodic maintenance work on Peshawar to Lahore G.T. Lahore has been started to ensure smooth flow of traffic on it.

He said over fifty projects of road infrastructure have also been included in the budget 2023-24.

Asad Mahmood said the Pakistan Post has been brought out of deficit and its ranking has also improved to fifty-four from sixty-two over the last one year.