Pilgrimage Policy: Hajj costs likely to rise by 13%, says official

ISLAMABAD: Applications for performing Hajj in 2012 would be received from the first week of April and the cost is likely to increase by 13% due to depreciation in the value of rupee compared to the dollar and the riyal, according to an official. There will be a quota system and as many as 179,210 people would perform Hajj this year - half of them under the government scheme and the rest under private schemes.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14^th, 2012.