The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet which met on Tuesday with Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar in the chair approved provision of GOP guarantee to support the facility of Pak rupees 1 billion to PIAC from a private bank.
Aviation Division Secretary Mohammad Ali Gardezi briefed the ECC on financial discipline which had been put in place during the last one year to bring back the PSE on the track. He informed that the said loan would be utilised for paying liabilities of PIAC to smoothen the forthcoming Hajj operation.
The finance minister underlined the need for PIAC to improve its performance both financially and with provision of quality service to its clients. He said the organisation had to follow cash flow discipline in order to effectively pursue its turnaround plan. The ECC while approving the request directed the secretary aviation division that the loan should only be utilised for engine and component support programme and ensuring fuel supply to the national airline.
The ECC also considered a summary of the ministry of water and power for allowing NTDC to approach NEPRA for approval of the agreed tariff with Power Generation and Transmission Management Company, Iran, (TAVANIR) and of power acquisition request. It may be mentioned that the NTDC is purchasing 74MW electricity from TAVANIR Iran since November 2002 for supply to Makran Division, Balochistan. The last contract between the two expired on December 31, 2013 and TAVANIR has agreed to provide electricity for another term ending December 31, 2014, on the same tariff.
Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif informed the ECC that the contract was not hit by the UN sanctions and the ministry intended to import 1,000 MW of electricity from Iran in the coming years. The finance minister while agreeing to the request of NTDC said that the government was already working on comprehensive energy plan to boost power generation and in this regard import of electricity from Iran would be helpful. The finance minister also emphasized on the concerned ministries to expedite payment of arrears of TANAVIR by working with the Iranian side on exchange of wheat and rice for the arrears.
The ECC also considered summary of the ministry of water and power for approval of policy to attract private sector investment in transmission lines projects. The ECC was informed that due to large scale capacity additions in the electricity generation system there would be a need to put in place additional transmission networks. Under the draft policy, the private sector would be invited for investment in the new transmission lines to reduce burden on the public sector. The FBR chairman informed the ECC that the draft policy was not circulated to FBR and in order to examine its implications on revenue generation, necessary time be given for their comments. The finance minister observed that all stakeholders had not been consulted on this important issue and hence the summary would be considered in the next ECC meeting after detailed review by the law division and FBR.
The meeting was also attended by Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Minister for Water and Power, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Zahid Hamid, Minister for Science and Technology Sikandar Hayat Khan Bosan, Minister for National Food Security, Abbas Khan Afridi, Minister for Textile Industry Anusha Rehman Khan, MOS for IT and Telecom Ashraf Mahmood Wathra, SBP Governor Muhammad Zubair, Chairman Privaization Commission Tahir Mehmood, chairman SECP, federal secretaries and senior officials of the government.
