ISLAMABAD: The Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, chaired a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet. The meeting included the Minister for Commerce, Industries, & Production Dr. Gohar Ijaz, Minister for Communications, Railways, & Maritime Affairs Mr. Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Minister for Power & Petroleum Mr. Muhammad Ali (via video link), Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Mr. Sami Saeed, Advisor to PM on Finance Dr. Waqar Masood, Chairman SECP, Federal Secretaries, and other senior government officials from relevant ministries.
During 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.
The Economic Coordination Committee discussed the Ministry of Maritime Affairs’ summary on the “Revision of Lighthouse Dues” and decided to revise the Lighthouse dues from Rs. 7/NRT to Rs. 20/NRT under Section 10(1) of the Lighthouse Act, 1927.
Additionally, the ECC approved a summary from the Ministry of Energy for the extension of the GOP guarantee ceiling of Rs. 100 billion in favor of PSO until December 2024, subject to the approval of terms and conditions of each financing facility by the Finance Division upon renewal.
A proposal for 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 was discussed and approved. The ECC suggested that provincial governments may directly engage with companies operating under the Green Pakistan Initiative for future disbursements.
The ECC also addressed a summary submitted by the Ministry of Energy regarding “Uniform Quarterly Tariff Adjustments for K-Electric Consumers at par with XWDISCOs 2nd & 3rd Quarterly FY 2023.” It was decided that the tariff rationalization by way of adjustments for K-Electric would be applicable on the consumption of July, August, and September 2023, to be recovered from consumers in December 2023, January 2024, and February 2024, respectively.
Another summary from the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation & Social Safety regarding the “Grant of Special Relief Package for Daily Wage Workers on Chaman Border” was considered. The ECC asked BISP to examine the cases of 8,000 registered daily wage workers employed at the Chaman border and provide support to eligible ones from its allocated budget in consultation with the Finance Department, Government of Balochistan.
The ECC also approved a summary from the Ministry of Interior regarding a Technical Supplementary Grant of Rs. 47.45 million within the sanctioned budget for repair and maintenance during CFY 2023-24.
Furthermore, a summary from the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication was considered, and the ECC approved the release of Rs. 5 billion as bridge finance from the R&D Fund for the Digital Information Infrastructure project.
