ECC okays Rs1.75 bn Ramazan relief package

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) here on Monday approved the Special Ramazan Package worth Rs1.75 billion for providing relief to consumers in the holy month as compared to Rs1.5 billion given last year.

Federal Minister for Finance Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of the ECC held at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat. The Ramazan package would cover 22 essential items available at the Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan (USC), according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance here on Monday.

The meeting was informed that as directed by the prime minister, the USC was already providing concession on different items since April 27, which would also continue in Ramazan. The relief on different items ranges from Rs4 to Rs 50.

It is pertinent to mention here that overall the USC would provide 5 to 10% discount on more than 1,000 items for the month of Ramazan through arrangements with vendors or reducing its own profit margins.

The ECC also approved the grant of tax exemption under the Gwadar Port Concession Agreement for Operation and Development of the Gwadar Port.A tax holiday shall be provided to businesses to be established in the free zone for a period of 23 years.

The ECC also granted approval for the allocation of 60MMCFD additional available gas from HRL (Habib Rahi Limestone) Reservoir of Mari Gas to Thermal Power Station Guddu (TPSG)/ GENCO- II.

On the occasion, Secretary Water and Power Younus Dhaga informed the committee that as compared to May 2015, when the total power generation was 14,100MW, this year “we have optimised generation and took it to 16,300MW in the current month.”

The finance minister appreciated the efforts of the Water and Power Ministry in effectively dealing with the energy crisis and said, “We shall make available 10,000 additional MW by 2018 as promised by the PML-N in its manifesto.”