Expanding Social Protection ii) The operations of the Utility Stores Corporation(USC) were expanded to provide greater access to subsidized basic food items. The subsidy given to USC in 2019-20 rose to Rs 44 billion as compared to the original budgeted amount of Rs 5 billion. iii) Option of deferment of payment of electricity bills was given to SMEs. iv) The SBP organized special schemes for deferment of the repayment component of loans, special loan facility for payment of the wage bill, investment in health facilities and lower interest rate on fixed investment. Overall, these interventions have provided a temporary cushion to the affected households. However, 2020-21 continued to create pressures on household income and expenditures. Only some of those who lost jobs got back to employment and the cost of living has been affected by the big increase in food prices of 16 percent. Currently, it is estimated that almost 33 percent of the population is below the poverty line. 30.2. The Existing Social Protection Programs Social protection programs are essentially of four types: Social Insurance: This includes the payment of pensions to workers who have retired and during the working lifetime had relatively low wages. It also includes various forms of insurance including health coverage and insurance against crop failure to small farmers. Social Assistance: This primarily consists of cash transfers to target households, identified by some criteria. The transfers may be conditional or unconditional in nature. Labor Market Programs : These initiatives include training, apprenticeship, placement in productive enterprises, food for work, microcredit, etc. Consumer Subsidies: In the Pakistani context this primarily includes two interventions. The first is the lower tariff to very small domestic consumers of electricity and gas. The second is subsidized price of basic food items in outlets of the USC. This intervention is not targeted and available to all households. There are social protection initiatives both by the Federal and the Provincial Governments. Social welfare is not mentioned as a function either in the FLL-I or in the FLL-II. Therefore, the presumption is that it would be primarily the responsibility of Provincial Governments. However, in Pakistan up to now the Federal Government has taken the lead in launching anti-poverty interventions. The first major program was the Benazir Income Support Program(BISP), which was launched by the PPP Government in 2009-10. The merit of this program is that it provides for equal treatment of households in all the four Provinces. Federal Programs: The outlays on different social programs by the Federal Government from 2010-11 to 2018-19 are presented in Table 30.3. In overall terms the outlay has 315