To give impetus to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, the Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) on Tuesday granted exemption on the import of construction machinery, equipment and material for the completion of two early harvest projects of Karakoram Highway and Karachi-Lahore Motorway.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of ECC. The meeting considered and approved the proposal submitted by the ministry of communications for the grant of exemption from customs duties, levies and other relevant taxes for import of equipment and construction material to contractors for the completion of two early harvest projects of Karakoram Highway phase II, Thakot to Havellian section, and Karachi-Lahore Motorway, Sukkar to Multan Section, under the CPEC.
An official source said the contractors had attributed the taxes as the main impediment in the timely completion of the projects. The government instead of asking FBR to improve delay in the submission of tax documents thought it better to exempt them from taxes altogether. As improvement in FBR system was thought to be five year project.
On a proposal from the finance division, the ECC approved the remittance of UAED 100 million equivalent to $ 27.2 million on account of planned opening of wholesale Branch of Bank Alfalah Limited in the UAE. According to the proposal, this investment will help create employment opportunities for Pakistani nationals in UAE which is also keenly desired by the government of Pakistan.
The ECC also considered the proposal submitted by the ministry of national food security and research for allowing additional rebate of $ 30 per ton on the export of surplus wheat and wheat flour to allow the exporters to sell the wheat on competitive rates. The rebate was necessary to give some momentum to wheat exports as the government already procured 7 million tons of wheat during the current year.
An official source said the rebate was necessary for exports. The export of wheat will help remove the loans of over Rs 300 billion taken from the banks for wheat procurement. However, he said the export was still difficult due to the lack of wheat quality and grading system in the country. Wheat export is possible to countries in Middle East, Africa, Iran and Afghanistan
The ECC earlier granted rebate of $ 55 and $ 45 to the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. Both the provincial governments also contributed $35 and $45 per ton respectively as their share in the export rebate. On a fresh proposal submitted for consideration, it was stated that the export be allowed till 30th November 2016 and export process be completed by 31st January 2017. The ECC granted approval to the proposal on the condition that the additional rebate of $30 shall be shared equally by the federal and provincial governments.