The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) approved on Monday procurement of 7.05 million tons of wheat by the provinces and PASCO till August 31, this year.
The ECC meeting was chaired by the Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. ECC considered and approved proposal of Ministry of National Food Security and Research for public sector procurement of wheat crop 2015-16. It was decided that 7.05 million tons of wheat will be procured by all the four provinces and PASSCO till August 31, 2016.
On a proposal of Ministry of Petroleum, the ECC approved allocation of 100 MMCFD gas to the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for use in power generation, either at its own or through partnership with the private sector. The proposal was based on the memorandum of understanding recently signed between the federal and provincial governments.
The ECC on a proposal from the Federal Board of Revenue accorded approval to extend the period for reduced withholding tax rate of 0.4 percent on banking transactions by non-filers till April 30, 2016.
The meeting approved Ministry of Water and Power’s proposal regarding provision of government guarantee to open second Letter of Credit for setting up two 1000-1200 MW projects at Haveli Bahadur Shah, Jhang and Balloki, Kasur.
On a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Water and Power regarding executing the Power Purchase Agreement by CPPA-G pertaining to imported RLNG based power projects, the ECC accorded approval to authorize CPPA to develop and execute the PPA for the three RLNG based power projects in the public sector.
The meeting considered and approved a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Water and Power regarding extension in grace period by Bank Alfalah under term finance facility from two years to four years in respect of power holding limited. Consequently tenure of the facility shall stand extended up to seven years.
ECC considered and approved proposal from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources regarding extension in certain deadlines under policy framework for up-gradation and expansion of refinery projects.
