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  • ECC approves $150 million for COVID vaccine purchase

    ECC approves $150 million for COVID vaccine purchase

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Friday approved an amount of $150 million for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine.

    Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet here at Islamabad.

    Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Minister for Economic Affairs Khusro Bakhtiar, Adviser to the PM on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Ishrat Hussain, SAPM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar and SAPM on Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood, also participated in the meeting.

    The ECC evaluated a proposal submitted by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination and approved, in principle, the provision of technical supplementary grant of $150 million for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine.

    Ministry of Health briefed the ECC that this shall be the first phase of procurement and the amount of vaccine will suffice for the most vulnerable 5 percent of the population i.e. the health workers and the population above the age of 65 years; around 10 million people would be provided a vaccine cover under the above arrangement.

    The ECC further directed the Ministry of National Health Services to discuss the proposal with WB and other donors in coordination with Economic Affairs Division so that they could assist in providing financial facility for the procurement of the vaccine during the first phase and for the procurement of additional quantities in future as needed.

    The forum also directed the Ministry of NHS to draw a holistic proposal regarding the pricing and risk mitigation mechanism for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine for provision on a wider scale, in consultation with the relevant stake holders.

    The ECC approved the request of the Economic Affairs Division to proceed with the formal request for availing the G-20 Debt Relief for the extended period i.e January-June 2021; approval of the Federal Cabinet would be required for signing of the bilateral debt service suspension agreements.

    The ECC also approved two technical supplementary grants for “Initiating the Process of Retrenchment of Pakistan Steel Mills Employees (PSM)” for an amount of Rs.19.656 billion and “Prime Minister’s Special Package to Implement SKILLS FOR ALL Strategy as Catalyst for TVET Sector Development in Pakistan for Rs. 500 million.

    Another Rs. 689.3 million were also approved as budget re-appropriation for National Information Technology Board (NITB) for fulfilling its various requirements during the meeting. ECC also approved the proposal by the Ministry of Energy/ Petroleum Division for the allocation of 2.25 MMCFD gas from Umair -1 to M/s OGDCL for sale to M/s Engro at a mutually agreed and negotiated price, under a Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement subject to initiation of Field Development Plan and Development and Production Lease.

    The ECC was also briefed on the status of wheat import through Trade Corporation of Pakistan. Ministry of National Food Security and Research briefed the forum on the provision of additional 340,000 MT of Wheat, a tender was floated on 11-10-2020; the bids were opened on 18-10-2020 and lowest bid was accepted. The total quantity to be imported is now 2.248 MMT.

  • ECC sets up committee to examine proposal of manufacturing SIM/smart cards

    ECC sets up committee to examine proposal of manufacturing SIM/smart cards

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday constituted a committee to examine a proposal for manufacturing of SIM/Smart-cards in the country.

    The meeting of the cabinet committee was chaired by Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh while among others it was attended by Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, SAPM on Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood, SAPM on Petroleum Nadeem Baber and Advisor to the PM for Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr. Ishrat Hussain attended the meeting. Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr. Reza Baqir also participated through video link.

    In light of a summary presented by the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication regarding manufacturing of SIMs/Smart-cards in Pakistan, after due deliberation, the chair directed to constitute a Committee to examine the proposal and present a report for a way forward within two weeks.

    The Committee would be chaired by the Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar and would include representatives from the Ministry of IT & Telecom., FBR and Board of Investment (BOI).

    The ECC constituted a committee to decide a timeline for export of mango and kinnow after due consultation with the stakeholders.

    The committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R), according to press statement issued by the Finance Ministry here.

    The ECC approved budgetary allocation in favour of NITB for provision of ICT services at the Prime Minister’s Office for Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan Programme for FY/2020-21 to the tune of Rs53 million as requested by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.

    The ECC gave concurrence to the proposal by the Petroleum Division, in principal, regarding allocation of gas from Bashar X-IST to third party up to 1.0 MMCFD.

    A summary was presented by the PIACL, Aviation Division before ECC regarding GOP cash support for the Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS). After thorough discussion, it was decided to approve, in principle, the voluntary separation from service scheme for PIA.

    The ECC also approved four separate Technical Supplementary Grants for the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior for various projects during current FY 2020-21.

    Related Stories

    ECC decides to propose increase in wheat support price to Rs1600

    Reduced rates of electricity, gas: ECC approves procedure for registration

  • ECC decides to propose increase in wheat support price to Rs1600

    ECC decides to propose increase in wheat support price to Rs1600

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday decided to propose the federal cabinet to enhance support price of wheat to Rs1600 for the crop 2020-2021.

    It was briefed to the ECC that was chaired by Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue that the support price mechanism plays a pivotal role in boosting wheat production as it stabilizes market and increases profitability of the farmers, a statement said.

    The wheat support price has been decided to increase from Rs1200 to Rs1600.

    Since 2010-2011, MSP for wheat has been revised 4 times.

    The new price which has been decided by the ECC is close to the price recommended by Punjab, which is the largest producer of wheat in the country.

    ECC was also apprised of the Status of wheat import by the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP).

    ECC was briefed that till January 2021 TCP shall be able to secure 1 million metric tons of wheat through international bidding.

    On the request of MNFS&R, ECC decided that the initial allocation of TCP for the import of 1.50 MMT of wheat may be enhanced to 1.80 MMT to cater for the additional requirement of 0.30 MMT demanded by the KP and Sindh for shipment by mid-February.

    It was also decided that 300,000 MT of wheat shall be imported on G2G basis from the Russian Federation by PASSCO.

    ECC endorsed the request of Ministry of Food to import another 320,000 from Russia under the G2G arrangement but constituted a Committee of Secretaries of Finance, Commerce and Food Ministry to look into the possibility of import of wheat either by PASSCO or TCP.

    It was also decided that further tendering of wheat may be stopped and TCP may resort to GTG arrangement for additional procurement of wheat.

    Keeping in view the arrival of the new crop in March 2021, the forum decided that no vessel of imported wheat should be arranged either in public or private sector beyond February 2021.

    ECC also decided to release 50 percent of the tariff differential subsidy to the Power Division.

    Finance Division has earmarked Rs.140 billion for 2020-21 as Power Division subsidy.

    The release of Rs.65.8 billion demanded by the Power Division will be used for payments to the power producers in order to maintain adequate liquidity.

    On the summary moved by the Ministry of Industries and Production for the determination of Gas rate for operations of Fatima fertilizer and Agritech, ECC decided that gas rate of Rs772/MMBTU with Variable contribution margin at 186 per bag may be offered to both the units for the period 3rd November 2020 onwards.

    It was briefed to the ECC that GoP’s share at this gas rate has been estimated by NFDC on the basis of RLNG’s last notified rate for July by OGRA, which is approximately 0.42 Billion.

    Further, actual payment by GoP for price differential sum to SNGPL may vary due to difference in monthly rate of RLNG.

    ECC granted approval for the sale of surplus power available at the incremental rate of Rs. 12.96/kwh to all industrial consumer categories, excluding zero-rated industrial consumers, on the incremental consumption over their respective historical consumption or established benchmark.

    ECC also formed a committee consisting of Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Dr. Waqar Masood, Federal Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Power, Omer Ayub, SAPM Nadeem Babar and SAPM Tabish Gohar to prepare a proposal to include K-Electric in the package.

    The Committee will also propose whether the package shall continue for one year or three years.

    The Committee will also analyze the need for any subsidy that will be involved in the package and source for arranging the same and all the issues that may come up in the calculation and distribution of that subsidy.

  • Reduced rates of electricity, gas: ECC approves procedure for registration

    Reduced rates of electricity, gas: ECC approves procedure for registration

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday approved the procedure of registration for availing reduced rate of electricity, RLNG and gas by manufacturers and industries.

    Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting of ECC at the Cabinet Division.

    The ECC approved in principle, the procedure for registration under the concessionary regime of electricity, RLNG and gas under the export oriented sectors (erstwhile zero-rated sectors) with instructions to ensure better targeting of the recipients of this subsidy.

    The ECC decided that the previous list of manufacturers or exporters declared zero-rated by FBR (under condition (xii) of the SRO 1125) may be adopted in export oriented sectors. FBR may register new manufacturers or exporters of five export oriented sectors (erstwhile five zero rated sectors), in accordance with past precedents of STGO-117, under Commerce Division’s O.M No.1 (18)/2019 in manner specified by the FBR.

    The FBR, Petroleum Division and Power Division may formulate periodic rechecking/monitoring/withdrawal strategy for previous and newly registered units along with procedure to penalize in case of misrepresentation and misuse.

    The ECC discussed in detail on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of Wheat in today’s session. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research briefed the ECC on different estimates gathered from Punjab, KP, Balcohistan and the Federal Capital.

    During the discussion, it also came to the fore that there was a need to increase the MSP to support the farmer and to grow enough quantities in the next sowing season.

    The forum also discussed the need to rationalize the prices of inputs for making them more affordable to the farmers, to support the rural economy through various measures and to increase the supply of wheat in the market so that the flour prices are brought down. It was also discussed to have a better system for gathering data regarding the agriculture sector.

    ECC decided to form a committee with Syed Fakhar Imam, Dr. Hafeez Shaikh, Dr. Ishrat Hussain.Dr. Waqar Masood, Nadeem Baber, Abdul Razzaq Dawood, Asad Umar and Khusroo Bakhtiar as members, to thoroughly evaluate the proposal for the increase in the Minimum Support Price of wheat for the 20-21 crops.

    The committee shall also prepare a proposal on subsidy on fertilizers mainly DAP which may be offered as a part of the package for the farmers so that their input cost is reasonable/ reduced.

    It was also decided that the provinces should increase the wheat releases to stabilize/reduce the price of flour in the market. It was decided that the local governments will also be directed to specially monitor the prices of wheat and flour in the markets so that its prices may not be allowed to escalate for the common man. The committee shall present its proposal in the next meeting of ECC.

  • ECC approves retrenchment plan of Pakistan Steel Mills

    ECC approves retrenchment plan of Pakistan Steel Mills

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved the retrenchment plan of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM). Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the ECC meeting at the Cabinet Division.

    (more…)
  • Regulatory duty, additional customs duty withdrawn on various textile products

    Regulatory duty, additional customs duty withdrawn on various textile products

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved withdrawal of regulatory duty and additional customs duty on various textile products.

    (more…)
  • ECC approves expanding duty free car import scheme for disabled persons

    ECC approves expanding duty free car import scheme for disabled persons

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday granted approval to expand the scheme of duty free car import by disabled persons.

    (more…)
  • ECC decides to abolish regulatory duty on smuggling prone items

    ECC decides to abolish regulatory duty on smuggling prone items

    ISLAMABAD – The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved the abolition of regulatory duty on several items prone to smuggling, in a move aimed at discouraging illegal trade and enhancing legal imports.

    (more…)
  • ECC extends SBP’s refinance scheme with additional benefits

    ECC extends SBP’s refinance scheme with additional benefits

    ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved extension to the refinancing scheme of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) up to September 30, 2020 from June 30, 2020.

    A statement said that the ECC approved the “Risk Sharing Facility for SBP Refinance Scheme to support employment and prevent layoff of workers.

    The scheme supports provision of credit at concessional rate to businesses that commit not to lay off workers till September 2020 (earlier the cutoff date was June 30, 2020), the loss coverage for SME sector has been increased to 60 percent from the existing 40 percent to promote greater take up at the smaller level of business.

    Under the new changes the borrowers having turnover up to Rs800 million can avail benefit of the scheme; earlier, for the eligibility of the scheme, the turnover limit was up to Rs 2 billion).

    Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the ECC meeting at the Cabinet Division.

    ECC approved the following technical supplementary grants:

    1) Rs.3.2 billion for PIACL (Pakistan International Airline corporation Limited) to discharge the obligations on account of markup against GoP guaranteed loans.

    2) Rs25,206,953 in favor of Pakistan Academy for Rural Development (PARD) Peshawar for the current financial year.

    3) Rs. 1300 million to Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission to discharge its various liabilities

    4) Rs 235 million to Deputy Commissioner Islamabad for making payment of internal security duty allowance to troops of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) deployed in Islamabad

    5) Rs 500 million to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to meet the expenditure of media campaign on Covid-19

    6) Rs 100 million for National Disaster Management Authority (NDMF) for procuring equipment for locust control in Punjab

    7) Rs 7.947 billion to NDMA on account of procurement of emergency equipment through Pakistan Foreign Mission in China (Ex-post Facto approval on account of Pakistan National Emergency Preparedness and Response for Covid-19, procurement of equipment and transfer of funds)

    8) Rs.4.5 billion for the capacity building of Civil Armed forces as requested by the Ministry of Interior

    9) Rs.80 million for Competition Commission of Pakistan for different expenses

    10) Rs 100 million for the purchase of kerosene oil by Head Quarters Frontier Corps KP (North) to be used in different locations posts (8000 feet and above)

    11) Rs.8.093 million for the Privatization Division for employee related expenditure

    12) Two TSGs amounting to Rs 1192.325 million and Rs 358.506 million for Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training for the Award of Scholarships to Afghan students ECC also granted approval for book value adjustment of overdue amount of loans amounting to Rs 30.807 billion to Earth Quake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority over and above its allocated development and non-development budget.

    It also allowed, on the recommendation of the committee earlier constituted by ECC, to convert two relent Chinese loans in to Government loans keeping in view the subsuming of ERRA into NDMA and ERRA being non-profit/ non revenue generating entity. ECC also approved the “handing over of Pakistan Machine Tool Factory to Strategic Plans Division.

    For the purpose of operationalization of PMTF, Rs 500 million shall be provided to SPD as a loan.

    The Federal Government shall pay all the liabilities accrued till the transfer of management control of PMTF to SPD, after partial settlement of liabilities of Rs 1.78 billion.

  • ECC forms body for hedging prices of imported petroleum products

    ECC forms body for hedging prices of imported petroleum products

    ISLAMABAD: The government on Wednesday constituted a committee for hedging prices of imported petroleum products. The formation of the committee was approved by Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh.

    The ECC set up a body headed by Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Petroleum Nadeem Babar to explore various call options for hedging prices for the petroleum products imported by Pakistan.

    The ECC also gave go-ahead to a “full and final” human resource rationalisation plan for the Pakistan Steel Mills employees in accordance with the judgements and observations of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and other courts hearing the cases involving the PSM.

    The ECC took up the proposal prepared by the Ministry of Energy in consultation with various international institutions and local partners for hedging prices for petroleum products being imported and decided to set up a Committee headed by Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Petroleum Nadeem Babar and including representation from SBP, PSO, Finance Division, Petroleum Division, Law Division and Planning Division to explore call option for 15 million barrels of oil for one or two years divided in 12 equal monthly amounts for different stock price above current Brent as long as fee is within acceptable range.

    Under the TOR which can be readjusted by the Committee in the light of future developments, PSO will act as the counterparty while the Ministry of Finance shall give a guarantee of performance by the PSO.

    OGRA would also be given the policy direction to include the monthly price of the Option in the cost of LNG or any other oil product chosen in announcing the monthly prices.

    The ECC also discussed the reported shortage of petrol in some cities and asked the Ministry of Energy, Competition Commission of Pakistan and the OGRA to ensure the requisite stocks were maintained by the OMCs and the supply to the fuel stations across the country was regular and intact throughout the month.

    Chairman ECC while taking a stern view of the reported petrol shortage directed all the relevant Government Ministries /Departments to immediately inform him if situation worsens any further.

    On another proposal by the Ministry of Energy, the ECC considered and approved reimbursement of operational cost of Single Point mooring (SPM) installed by M/s Byco.

    Under the decision BYCO would submit actual audited operating cost of the SPM (excluding Wharfage/FOTCO charges/crude saving) to OGRA for inclusion in IFEM subject to a cap of PARCO rate while OGRA shall determine the actual impact for inclusion in the IFEM on the ongoing basis.

    Consequently with the implementation of the above decision, BYCO will withdraw its case from the Supreme Court of Pakistan and would also provide an undertaking that the ECC decision conclusively closes the pending matter of SPM’s costs.

    On another proposal by the Ministry of Energy, the ECC asked the Finance Division to release an amount of Rs 1 billion to meet the cost over and above the criteria for supply of gas to villages and localities falling within 5 kilometres radius of gas producing fields as per instructions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to implement an announcement of the Prime Minister made in September 2003 for supply of gas to villages and localities falling within 5 kilometres radius of gas producing fields.

    The ECC also took up a proposal by the Ministry of Energy for payment of unrecovered fixed costs of Rs.43.7 billion to the IPPs and asked the Finance Division to release Rs 23 billion while the issue of remaining payments would be resolved by all the stakeholders within one week and would be taken up in the next ECC meeting.

    During the meeting, the ECC also took up and approved 12 separate proposals for technical supplementary grants of various amounts from different divisions and departments, including Interior Division, NAB, Revenue Division, Cabinet Division, National Heritage and Culture Division, Finance Division, Federal Education and Professional Training, Communications Division and Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Division.