ECC approves gas allocation for Pak Arab, FFBQL to meet fertiliser demand

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday approved gas allocation for Pak Arab and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBQL) to meet the demand during the Rabi season.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin presided over the ECC meeting held at the Finance Division.

During the meeting, the Ministry of Industries and Production secretary presented a summary regarding provision of gas to Pak Arab and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBQL) to review the demand for urea fertiliser during the Rabi season 2021/22.

After detailed discussion, the ECC approved the maximum provision of gas to Pak Arab (58MMCFD) and FFBQL (63MMCFD) to ensure that the estimated demand for urea fertiliser is met through domestic production.

The decision will stabilise the prices of urea fertiliser and ensure its smooth supply throughout the country during the Rabi season.

The ECC also considered and approved a summary presented by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication regarding allocation of Rs2 billion as a single line budget for the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), an apex government body, mandated to strengthen and promote the IT sector exports.

Moreover, the ECC also approved the allocation of Rs4 billion to PSEB for disbursement of cash reward incentive to incentivise the IT exports and to encourage documentation of exporters/exports.

The cash reward incentive would be provided for the IT and IT-enabled services exporters, promoting export proceeds through the banking channels via the State Bank of Pakistan allocated banking codes.

Lastly, the Ministry of Commerce presented the Textile and Apparel Policy 2020/25. After due deliberation, the committee constituted a subcommittee comprising representatives of the Ministry of Commerce, Finance Division, Ministry of Industries and Production, Power and Petroleum divisions, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the State Bank of Pakistan to review and present an updated policy before the ECC in a couple of weeks.

Federal Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar, Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Federal Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati, Minister of State for Information Farrukh Habib, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, federal secretaries and other senior officials participated in the meeting.