The Pakistan Government has said it will cut the number of public holidays from 20 to 11 a year to help ease the economic pressure of sanctions imposed after its recent nuclear tests.

The official news agency quoted the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as saying that the measure would increase productivity and national income, but it did not specify which public holidays would go.

The Pakistani Government also announced it was setting up a national self-reliance fund, and appealed for donations from Pakistanis both at home and abroad.