ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, chaired a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Friday.
Minister for Commerce, Industries, & Production Dr. Gohar Ijaz, Minister for Communications, Railways, & Maritime Affairs Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Minister for Power & Petroleum Muhammad Ali, Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Sami Saeed, Advisor to PM on Finance Dr. Waqar Masood, Chairman SECP, Federal Secretaries, and other senior government officials from relevant ministries attended the meeting.
Various summaries submitted by different Ministries, including the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Energy (Power Division), Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division), Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety, and Ministry of Defence, were considered during the meeting.
The ECC discussed the summary from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs regarding the “Revision of Lighthouse Dues” and decided to revise the dues from Rs. 7/NRT to Rs. 20/NRT under Section 10(1) of the Lighthouse Act, 1927.
Additionally, a summary submitted by the Ministry of Energy for the extension of the GOP guarantee ceiling of Rs 100 billion in favor of PSO till December 2024 was discussed and approved, subject to the approval of terms and conditions of each financing facility by the Finance Division upon renewal.
The ECC also deliberated on the disbursement of Rs 20 billion credited to the Federal Government Account by the Finance Department Government of Punjab for further disbursement to Green Corporative Initiative (Pvt) for the Green Pakistan Initiative. The ECC approved the disbursement with the observation that provincial governments may directly engage with companies operating under the Green Pakistan Initiative for future disbursements.
Furthermore, the ECC considered a summary from the Ministry of Energy regarding “Uniform Quarterly Tariff Adjustments for K-Electric Consumers at par with XWDISCOs 2nd & 3rd Quarterly FY 2023” and decided on tariff rationalization and adjustments for K-Electric.
The ECC instructed BISP to examine the cases of 8,000 registered daily wage workers at the Chaman border, provide support to eligible ones from its allocated budget, and coordinate with the Finance Department, Government of Balochistan for later reimbursement.
Additionally, the ECC approved a Technical Supplementary Grant amounting to Rs. 47.45 million for repair and maintenance during CFY 2023-24, as per the summary from the Ministry of Interior.
The ECC also considered and approved the release of Rs 5 billion as bridge finance from the R&D Fund for the Digital Information Infrastructure project, as per the summary from the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication.
