Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Omar Ayub Khan, chaired a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet in Islamabad today.
Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance & Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, Federal Minister for Industries & Production, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar, Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Energy, Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Privatization, Mian Muhammad Soomro, Federal Secretaries, and other senior officers participated in the meeting.
The ECC considered and recommended the summary presented by the Ministry of Industries & Production regarding the late payment surcharge of operations of fertilizer plants at SNGPL network between September 2018 to November 2019 with a direction to seek prior approval from the Board of SNGPL.
Ministry of National Food & Security presented a summary before the Committee to reshuffle the chairmanship of the Committee constituted for accepting/scrapping the tenders floated by TCP to import wheat and sugar. The ECC recommended that the Adviser to the PM on Finance & Revenue may head the aforesaid committee for taking operational decisions related to tenders for import of wheat and sugar floated by the TCP.
The ECC also recommended the summary tabled by the Petroleum Division regarding the extension of the gas network/rehabilitation of network in oil and gas producing districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The summary outlined details regarding phase-II of the project that will reduce gas losses in the gas-producing districts of KP in collaboration with the provincial government. The first phase of the project was completed during the last financial year.
On another summary moved by the Power Division regarding the decision of the authority in the matter of fuel charges adjustment for the months of November 2019 to June 2020 for XWDISCOS along with notification thereof. The ECC, after due deliberation, recommended that the federal government may issue guidelines to NEPRA and also require it to reconsider its decision dated 07 August 2020 to allow recovery of pending FCA as prior year adjustment in the rebasing decision which is under process at NEPRA.
Ministry of Commerce presented a Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2020-25 to enhance growth in exports in Pakistan. The STPF 2020-25 aims to enhance the export competitiveness of Pakistan through a framework of interventions having an impact across the value chains. On a whole, the STPF aims to enhance the ability of Pakistani enterprises’ capacity to produce, distribute and sell products and services as or more efficiently than is done by the competitors. The ECC recommended the STPF, in principle, as a guiding framework with a direction that budgetary allocation and other related details will be dealt with separately.
The ECC also considered and recommended the summary tabled by the M/o NFS&R recommending that keeping in view the sufficient public current stock position of wheat flour, demand and supply situation, international wheat prices, and local releases to flour mills, there is no need for further import of wheat at this point of time, even through G2G arrangements. On the recommendations of the Technical Advisory Committee, ECC also canceled the floating of fresh tender to import wheat on the occasion.
The ECC also recommended a summary by M/o NFS&R regarding permission for the export of wheat flour to Afghanistan under the World Food Programme strategy in wake of the recent crisis.
The ECC also approved the following Technical Supplementary Grants as recommended by the Technical Advisory Committee:
• Rs.30 million in favor of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) for the execution of development schemes of Sindh Province under PSDP.
• Rs.300 million in favor of Interior Division for the establishment of Pakistan Emergency Helpline (PEHEL)
• US$ 190 million to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for procurement of vaccine including transportation and handling charges.
Earlier, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance & Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, presided over the meeting of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the ECC today. The meeting of TAC was attended by Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research, Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Energy, Muhammad Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Privatization, Mian Muhammad Soomro, Federal Secretaries and other senior officers. The TAC discussed 15 summaries and presented its recommendations to the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet for their consideration.
