ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet has approved an additional $163 million in foreign exchange for Hajj 2023.
The ECC gave the approval of an additional amount in a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Monday.
The committee also considered a summary submitted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony on the Hajj quota and its financing. The ministry gave details of the Hajj Policy-2023, the number of applications received under the Regular Hajj Scheme, unutilised quota under regular and sponsorship Hajj schemes and financial requirements.
The ECC approved the modalities for the scheme and decided that all 72,869 received applications under the regular scheme would be declared successful without balloting.
According to the ministry, the Hajj Policy stipulates that the 179,210 quota of Pakistan to be distributed equally between the government and private scheme. The 50 percent quota under each scheme would be filled through sponsorship for which Hajj dues will be remitted in dollars from abroad. The sponsorship scheme was expected to secure $194 million out of the total required $284 million. The ECC and the cabinet have approved that the finance division will provide the remaining $90 million foreign exchange cover for the hajj.
