Pakistan on Monday allocated more than Rs 50 billion to support small and medium-size enterprises as part of its efforts to mitigate the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, even as the number of the COVID-19 cases rose to 13,909 in the country.
“The ECC meeting chaired by Adviser to PM on Financeand Revenue Dr Abdul HafeezShaikh today approves Rs 50.69 billion package toprovide indirect cash flow support to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs)through pre-paid electricity,” the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.Pakistan was in the process of purchasing about700 ventilators which would be available by the end of June. He said currentlyaround 4,000 ventilators were available in the country. Ministry of NationalHealth Services said that more than 3,000 people have recovered from thecoronavirus. It said so far 281 people have died due to the virus, including 12in the last 24 hours. According to the ministry, worst-hit Punjab provincereported 5,526 cases, Sindh 4,996, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa 1,984, Balochistan 781,Gilgit-Baltistan 318, Islamabad 245 and Pakistan-administered Kashmir 59 cases.