ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday approved to increase the wheat procurement target for PASSCO from 1.40 to 1.80 million metric tons along with the required Cash Credit Limit  for the purchase of additional quantity.

The ECC  met here Minister for Finance and Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb in the chair.

The meeting was attended by the Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan, Minister for Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik, Minister for Privatization Abdul Aleem Khan, Minister for Industries Production Rana Tanveer Hussain, Chairman SECP,.

Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, Federal Secretaries, and other senior government officials of the relevant ministries also attended the meeting.

Minister for Economic Affairs Ahad Khan Cheema and MD PASSCO attended the meeting online.

The ECC reviewed and approved a number of proposals from various government ministries and divisions.

The ECC also approved the proposal for import of 200,000 MTs of Urea fertiliser to meet the requirements for Kharif 2024 as proposed by Ministry of Industries and Production.

The Ministry was also directed to continuously assess the demand & supply situation of urea and suggest appropriate measures to the ECC in a timely manner.

ECC also gave go-ahead to  Ministry of Industries and Production’s request for the disbursement of salaries of PSM workers and directed the ministry to present a detailed plan for the future use of the asset according to time lines.

ECC also allowed Power Division’s request for release of budgeted expenditures to clear the arrears of tariff differential subsidy Rs. 70 billion for Karachi Electric and Rs 55 billion for AJK. This would help ease the liquidity requirements of the Power Sector.

The ECC considered a summary to authorize BISP to arrange funds from its allocated budget for financing the Special Relief Package for Daily Wage Workers on the Chaman Border, highlighting government support for the vulnerable group.

Further, the ECC considered and approved proposals for Technical Supplementary Grants, including:
Rs. 4.8 billion for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
Rs. 5.8 billion for the Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority’s to clear matured liabilities of the contractors.

The ECC approved  Rs. 3.2 billion to Finance Division as rupee cover for the WB funded Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure Project (FIIP) and Rs. 162 million to the Ministry of Housing & Works for Repair and Maintenance of Public Buildings in Islamabad.

Rs. 2.2 billion to the Ministry of Interior for the FATA TDP-ERP Project were also approved.