Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has warned that a recession will follow the coronavirus health crisis.

"The world is saying this. The global economy is going to contract by 3 per cent. It amounts to trillions of dollars and it will have a huge impact on Pakistan," he told the Senate.

"Our exports have decreased by 40pc. There is a danger of layoffs [of Pakistani labourers] in Gulf states, remittances might go down by 20 to 23pc."