ISLAMABAD, Sept 29: The Election Commission of Pakistan may spend over Rs1 billion to conduct the Oct 10 general elections.

Sources said Rs168.4 million had been spent on the 1985 elections, Rs313 million on the 1988 polls, Rs363.5 on the 1990 elections, Rs407.6 on the 1993 polls and Rs752.5 on the 1997 elections. The expenditures were other than the money spent by the candidates and political parties.

Now the polls body has fixed a maximum expense limit of Rs1.5 million for a person vying for a National Assembly seat and Rs1 million for the candidate contesting for a provincial assembly seat.—APP