ECC approves release of 190,000 tonnes of wheat to USC

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Thursday approved the release of 190,000 tonnes of wheat to the Utility Stores Corporation.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin presided over the meeting of the ECC.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) tabled a summary regarding allocation/release of 280,000 tonnes of wheat to the USC till December 2021.

A quantity of 90,000 tonnes had already been provided as an interim arrangement, whereas the remaining 190,000 tonnes will be provided from Passco’s stocks (local or imported as per the stock availability with Passco).\

The ECC approved the allocation/release of the remaining 190,000 tonnes to USC to ensure smooth supply of wheat through the chain of USC outlets across the country.

On a summary moved by the Ministry for National Food Security and Research, the ECC recommended the allocation of the total quantity of 300,000 tonnes of wheat to the AJK government from the Passco stocks during the current financial year.

This includes 140,000 tonnes of wheat, which had already been released to AJK by the Ministry of NFS&R as an interim arrangement. The ECC directed the division to provide wheat to AJK with the best possible combination of indigenous and imported wheat.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) also presented a summary to update the forum about the cotton seed prices during the months of August and September 2021.

The domestic prices remained above the threshold, barring for couple of days due to rains. The ECC expressed satisfaction that the farmers are getting their due prices.

The Finance Ministry tabled the summary regarding incentives/rewards to overseas Pakistanis remitters under the National Remittance Loyalty Programme (NRLP), which has been branded as Sohni Dharti Remittance Programme.

The remitters will be awarded points against remittances sent by them to Pakistan through legal channels. After due deliberations, the ECC recommended that the option of cash redemption may only be offered to those overseas Pakistani remitters who return to Pakistan permanently.

However, overseas Pakistanis would be qualified to avail services (such as PIA ticket, mobile phone duty payment, etc) against redemption of the accumulated points awarded under NRLP.

The ECC considered and approved the summary tabled by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and HRD regarding the Annual Budget for FY2021/22 and revised budget for the FY 2019/20 of the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution.

The ECC considered and approved a technical supplementary grant, amounting to Rs6.4 billion in favour of the Cabinet Division for Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) during 2021/22.