ECC allows Passco to procure 1.8m tonnes of wheat

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has granted its approval for increasing the procurement of wheat for Pakistan Agricultural Storage & Services Corporation (Passco) from 1.4 million tonnes to 1.8 million tonnes to provide some relief to farmers.

The ECC also approved the proposal for import of 200,000MTs of Urea fertiliser and allowed Power Division’s request for release of budgeted expenditures to clear the arrears of tariff differential subsidy Rs70 billion for KE and Rs55 billion for AJK.

The Federal Minister for Finance & Revenue, Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb presided over a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) reviewed and approved a number of proposals from various government ministries and divisions.

The ECC gave approval to increase the wheat procurement target for Passco from 1.40 to 1.80MMT along with the required Cash Credit Limit for the purchase of additional quantity. The approval would help Pascco scale up its on-going wheat procurement drive.

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

ECC also allowed Power Division’s request for release of budgeted expenditures to clear the arrears of tariff differential subsidy Rs70 billion for KE 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:

1. Rs4.8 billion for Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission. 2. Rs5.8 billion for the Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority’s to clear matured liabilities of the contractors. 3. Rs3.2 billion to Finance Division as rupee cover for the WB funded Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure Project (FIIP).

4. Rs162 million to the Ministry of Housing & Works for Repair and Maintenance of Public Buildings in Islamabad. 5. Rs2.2 billion to the Ministry of Interior for the Fata TDP-ERP Project.