Economic Coordination Committee approves urea import from China, Azerbaijan

• The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet allowed the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to import 125,000 tonnes of urea from China.
• The meeting also approved the technical supplementary grant of Rs115 million in favour of the Ministry of Housing and Works.

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Friday allowed the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) to import 125,000 tonnes of urea from China and 35,000 tonnes through Socar from Azerbijan to meet the fertilizer demand in the country.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Ishaq Dar presided over the meeting.

The Ministry of Industries and Production submitted a summary regarding the procurement of 200,000 tonnes of urea and said that the ministry has negotiated on various options, including import from the Chinese firms who have committed to supply the negotiated quantity of urea fertiliser on lowest rate.

The ECC after discussion allowed the TCP to proceed ahead for the import of urea fertiliser on government-to-government basis from China and Azerbaijan.

The ECC also directed the TCP to explore feasible options for the import of the remaining quantity of urea fertiliser to meet the strategic reserves of 200,000tonnes.

The meeting also considered a summary submitted by the Ministry of Energy, Petroleum Division on high-speed diesel (HSD) and gas oil premium.

Considering the increasing demand for HSD in the country, the ECC recommended that the Pakistan State Oil’s (PSO) weighted average premium (KPC and spot) may be applied for HSD price computation as per the federal government’s applicable policy guidance and in the case of higher HSD premium paid by the importing oil marketing companies (OMCs) other than PSO, the differential of premium will be computed in the price.

The ECC also approved the technical supplementary grant of Rs115 million in favour of the Ministry of Housing and Works.

Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on government effectiveness Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, SECP chairman, federal secretaries, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) chairman and other senior officers attended the meeting.

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