The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet (ECC) on Friday approved payment of Rs380 million for the salary of the month of January to the employees of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).
An official source said that the issues of the payment of gratuity for the retiring employees, pensions of the retired persons, and medical reimbursement of the staff were deferred till the issue of leasing of the mill was not settled.
A statement issued after the meeting said the ECC considered and approved proposals submitted by different ministries in its meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
ECC approved payment of salaries amounting to Rs380 million for the month of January 2017 to Pakistan Steel Mills employees on compassionate grounds.
It is important to mention that the opposition has said many times that the payment of the salary of PSM employees was the duty of the government. There was no issue of compassionate grounds, as the mill was willfully closed by the federal government at a time when many mega infrastructure projects were launched under the CPEC.
ECC considered and approved the proposal from the Ministry of Finance for the issuance of letter of comfort to National Bank of Pakistan or any other financial institution which will in turn issue Standby Letter of Credit (SBLC) for the comfort of commercial lenders of the Lahore-Sialkot Motorway project.
The meeting approved the proposal of Ministry of Petroleum for allocation of 10 mmcfd gas from Tolang gas field to SNGPL. The price of gas will be as per the applicable petroleum policy.
ECC approved a proposal of the Ministry of Commerce with respect to the Prime Minister’s Package of Incentives for Exporters. For export shipments until March 31, 2017, under the package, ECC approved an extension in the deadline for submission of claims from 90 days after shipment to 120 days after shipment. Under the package, ECC also approved inclusion of certain finished leather projects in the DLTL order
ECC considered a proposal of the Ministry of Petroleum regarding transportation of crude oil from Adhi oil field, authorising the concerned company to deal with the transportation arrangement of crude oil from the field purely on open competition basis without any involvement of the government.