The National Assembly resumed its session at the Parliament House in Islamabad on Monday with Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf in the chair.

At the outset, the House offered fateha for the departed soul of Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Mufti Abdul Shakoor, who died in a traffic incident.

Speaking on the occasion, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif acknowledged the services and contribution of late Mufti Abdul Shakoor for making the best arrangements on the last Hajj.

Talking about the precarious economic situation of the country, he said Mufti Abdul Shakoor was very concerned in this regard.

He said in view of that Mufti Abdul Shakoor proposed to invite overseas Pakistanis to sponsor their loved ones or themselves by sending foreign exchange for Hajj this year.

He said the cabinet approved that proposal, which was a great contribution of Mufti Abdul Shakoor to raise foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan.

The Prime Minister, however, announced that Saudi Arabia has deposited two billion dollars and another one billion dollars by the United Arab Emirates to increase foreign exchange reserves of Pakistan, fulfilling another condition of the International Monetary Fund.