ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Friday said the government had devised a mechanism for cash transfer to support 16 million deserving families during testing times.

He was speaking at a virtual meeting with Managing Director, World Bank Axel Van Trotsenburg and Vice President Hartwing Schafer.

The adviser on finance appreciated the role of World Bank in extending assistance to Pakistan to provide much-needed fiscal space to fight COVID-19 pandemic effectively.        

The World Bank appreciated reform agenda of the present government and reiterated commitment to support Pakistan through IDA 2020 during COVID-19 crisis.

In Pakistan, 736 more people tested covid positive after the tests of 27,050 over the last twenty four hours.

According to the latest statistics, the virus claimed lives of 13 more people during the last twenty four hours.

The figure of patients recovered from the virus has reached 309,646. There are now 9,855 active cases in the country.