economy that relies heavily on agriculture but is in the middle of the Middle East crisis, which its government has assisted in resolving.

This week, Pakistan announced an initial agreement between the warring parties, but it is too late for Sindh’s mango season, which started in June.

Due to declining demand in important countries, such as the Gulf, and skyrocketing shipping costs, mango dealers told AFP they anticipate a minimum 30% decline in export sales this year.

In addition to the financial hardship, local households are delaying purchasing the fruit due to a jump in inflation brought on by the regional crisis, which is lowering domestic sales.

Following large reductions in the price of petrol and diesel, the government has lowered the price of jet fuel, which has raised anticipation for cheaper airfares.

Jet fuel is now priced at Rs238.87 per litre after a price reduction of Rs56.97 per litre, according to reports.

According to sources, a drop in jet fuel prices could result in lower airfares, which would benefit travellers.

This comes one day after the government announced significant price reductions for petrol and diesel, lowering them by Rs74.28 and Rs67.31 per litre, respectively.

Today, Sunday, the National Assembly is set to formally begin the process of approving the government budget for the next fiscal year.

The National Assembly will hear 135 grant requests totalling more than PKR 104.14 trillion from Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb for final clearance.

It is anticipated that 88 of these requests, totalling more than Rs 43.85 trillion, will be approved without any reduction motions. But the opposition is getting ready to use detailed cut motions to contest a sizable chunk of the budget.

Details show that 587 cut motions on 47 proposals totalling more than Rs 60.29 trillion would be submitted by opposition MPs.

During the process, a number of ministries and divisions are also being examined. There are 91 cut motions on 19 demands that the Cabinet Secretariat and its affiliated departments must deal with. There will be 116 cut motions to discuss the six demands of the Energy Division, which total more than Rs 661.26 billion.

The Ministry of Interior would be exposed to 123 reduction motions on four claims totalling more than Rs 74.35 billion, while the Ministry of Finance itself will face 100 cut motions on demands over Rs 42.82 trillion.

Additionally, the opposition will bring 45 cut motions for the Poverty Alleviation Division, which has allocations above Rs 859 billion across three demands.

Over the next few days, the assembly is anticipated to continue the budget approval process amid in-depth discussion, examination, and political contestation.