With the number of COVID-19 cases in Pakistan reaching 2,000; Prime Minister Imran Khan announced Wednesday that he was setting up a relief fund to fight the coronavirus.
"Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund-2020 has been set up to help us fight this pandemic. I want everyone to donate towards this fund which will be used to take care of all those who have been made destitute by the lockdown," the Khan said on Twitter.
But Khan refrained from announcing a countrywide lockdown despite the rising number of cases. He said a lockdown would affect the poor of the country.
Last week, Khan said: “Data on our daily wagers is being collected. We will also dispense funds from the Ehsas programme and then this fund will be an added source to help people buy essential items for their families.”
The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says that Pakistan is among the countries likely to be hardest-hit by the global pandemic.
An UNCTAD report says that Pakistan’s economy "will take an enormous hit from high capital outflows, lost export earnings due to falling commodity prices and currency depreciation, with the overall impact likely to be worse than the 2008 financial crisis."