ECC approves mechanism for average price of urea

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday approved a mechanism for the weighted average price of urea, directing the National Fertilizer Marketing Limited (NFML) to ensure a reasonable price for the commodity and the Ministry of Industries and Production to provide oversight to the whole process.

The ECC meeting presided over by Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs Dr Shamshad Akhtar, took this decision after discussing a summary of the Ministry of Industries and Production seeking approval of a mechanism for the sale of imported urea at a ‘basket price’ along with locally manufactured urea at length.

Among others, the meeting was also attended by Minister for Privatization and Inter-Provincial Coordination Fawad Hasan Fawad, Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Sami Saeed, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr Muhammad Jehanzaeb Khan, Minister for Law and Justice, Water Resources and Climate Change  Ahmed Irfan Aslam, Advisor to PM on Finance Dr Waqar Masood, Federal Secretaries, and other senior government officers of the relevant ministries, a news release said.

On another agenda item, the ECC deliberated on a summary of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for the provision of additional funds of Rs.250 million during the current financial year 2023-24.

The IB representatives briefed the committee about the recent surge of terrorism which needed effective counter-measures to thwart the nefarious designs of terrorists.

The ECC approved the funds as a Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) for up-gradation, technical enhancement and field activities of the Intelligence Bureau with releases on a need basis.

The committee considered and approved the summary of National Health Services Regulation and Coordination for the provision of Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG), amounting to Rs.3,568.719 million in favour of the Federal Directorate of Immunization (FDI), urging the provinces to clear their pending liabilities.

The ECC also considered a summary of the Finance Division for signing the addendum to the Subsidiary Grant Agreement (SGA) regarding financial inclusion and infrastructure project and exemption from the re-lending policy of release of funds to the State Bank of Pakistan, and accorded its approval.

The Committee also took up a summary of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination for approval of the release of a grant for the participation of Pakistan’s Hockey team in international events and other sports promotion activities.

This grant, the ECC was told, would also be utilized for Davis Cup (Tennis) with India and other games like Scrabble and Chess. The committee approved the provision of additional funds amounting to Rs.100 million as a Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) for the fiscal year 2023-24.