World Bank satisfied with Agriculture Smart Programme progress

LAHORE: The World Bank has expressed satisfaction over the progress on the Agriculture Smart Programme in the mid-term review and proposed to extend its scope and completion period by two years.

This was informed in a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Agriculture Smart Programme, presided over by Punjab Finance Minister Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht.

Provincial Minister for Irrigation Mohsin Leghari, Minister for Livestock Hasnain Bahadur Dareshk, Punjab chief secretary Kamran Ali Afzal, Finance secretary Iftikhar Ali Sahoo, Planning and Development secretary Mujahid Sher Dil and secretaries of other relevant departments attended the meeting.

The meeting discussed the concerns and recommendations of the relevant departments for revising some targets of the programme.

The provincial finance minister directed to review the indicators related to payments under the smart programme.

He said the government was moving towards targeted subsidies to increase the purchasing power of low-income people. In the agricultural sector, increasing wheat production and reducing the price of flour was top priority of the government, he added.

Bakht stressed the need for proper planning to reform the wheat market. For this purpose, reasonable estimates were also sought for the provision of additional funds from the agriculture department.