Instead of the 20 million homes enrolled with the Ehsaas Rashan Riayat Program, the Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) authorised an Rs8.2 billion Ramzan Relief Package for the whole nation.
The ECC meeting, chaired over by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, authorised the summary of the Ramazan Relief Package-2022 prepared by the Ministry of Industries and Production, in principle, with the order to create procedural mechanisms for restricting the interventions by each household.
When asked about the procedural process, an official indicated that, in his understanding, the government aimed to reduce the likelihood of a single-family receiving subsidies on basic commodities many times during Ramzan at the USC.
The ECC also authorised an Rs5,700/40kg seed-cotton threshold intervention price for 2022-23 to boost cotton output, establish domestic price stability, and assure a fair return to farmers.
The decision was made based on a report submitted by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research about the cotton 2022-23 crop intervention price.
The ECC conference also approved the purchase of two million bales of cotton at intervention prices for the first time, with the condition that the quantity is evaluated on a monthly basis.
On a summary made by the Petroleum Division to resolve the PSO and other Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) concerns regarding payment method, the ECC granted an extra Rs11.73 billion TSG for covering expenditure on payment of PDC up to 31st March 2022.
The Petroleum Division presented a new method that will apply the PDC to the sale of petroleum products rather than product procurement.
The ECC permitted the EAD Ministry to sign 15 debt rescheduling agreements with various credit nations, which were finalised under the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) based on a summary submitted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
The ECC also approved a proposal from the Petroleum Division to issue an Rs21 billion sovereign guarantee in favour of M/s Faysal Bank Limited for the remaining tenor of the loan, i.e. 4 and 12 years, as well as a letter of comfort for a new finance agreement relating to the LNG-II pipeline infrastructure development project.
The ECC approved the re-allocation of the OGDCL’s Jhal Magsi gas to the SSGCL, with the SSGCL carrying out the Jhal Magsi town gasification project and embarking on the requisite gas from the proposed allocation. The SSGC’s gas demand-supply gap will be alleviated by injecting this gas, according to the meeting.
The ECC also authorised in principle the allocation of up to 110 MMCFD gas from the Mari deep (Goru-B) gas reservoir to the SNGPL on a solid basis until June 30, 2024, with the instruction to determine the gas price mechanism.
The ECC also approved technical supplementary grants of Rs200 million to the Pakistan Military Accounts Department (PMAD) for the conversion of pensioners to the Direct Credit System, as well as Rs3,500 million to the Higher Education Commission for the Pak University of Engineering and Emerging Technologies project (PUEET).
Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtyar, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, federal secretaries, and senior officials were in attendance at the meeting.
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