Islamabad: Feb 7, 2024: The Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar presided over a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by the Minister for Energy and Petroleum Division Mr. Mohammad Ali, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Mr. Sami Saeed, Minister for Communication Maritimes and Railways Mr. Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Minister for Information and Technology Mr. Umar Saif, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr. Muhammad Jehanzaeb Khan, Advisor to PM on Finance Dr. Waqar Masood, Federal Secretaries, and other senior government officers of the relevant ministries.
The Economic Coordination Committee considered and approved a proposal of Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication regarding “Allocation of Rs. 10 billion through Technical Supplementary Grant during CFY for the Digital Information Infrastructure Initiative”. The funds will be utilized to provide requisite technical capabilities to proactively identify potential cyber threats on the national critical information infrastructure besides preventing cyber security breaches.
The ECC considered the proposal of Petroleum Division regarding “Re-grant of Sui Development and Production Lease”. The provincial government of Balochistan indicated its endorsement of the proposal, following which the ECC approved the summary.
A summary of Ministry of Maritimes Affairs regarding “Revised Fee of Issuance of Certificate of Quality and Origin and Other Certificates for Fish and Fishery Products under Pakistan Fish Inspection and Quality Control Rules , 1998” was also approved with the directions to Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Maritimes Affairs, to explore further avenues of investment.
Ministry of National Food Security and Research presented a summary regarding “Extension of Farm Mechanization Scheme of Kissan Package” to the forum which was approved after detailed discussion.
A summary of Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) regarding “Amendment in the decision of ECC of the Cabinet regarding “Urea Fertilizer Requirement for Rabi Season 2023-24” was discussed in the committee. The forum approved the proposal, which did not involve any subsidy implications.
Another summary of Ministry of Energy regarding “Deed of settlement Pursuant to the Pakistan Oil Refining Policy 2023- for upgradation of Existing/ Brownfield Refineries” was also considered. ECC noted that the settlement proposal suggested by Finance Division was appropriate and Petroleum Division may offer the same to the private party.
Three summaries of Petroleum Division regarding “ Supply of Gas /RLNG to Fatimafert and Agritech to meet requirement of Urea”, “Allocation of Gas from M/s United Energy Pakistan’s Mohar field to SSGCL” and “allocation of condensate to Attock Refinery Limited and its Freight Charges Adjustment through inter freight equalization Mechanism” were also approved after detailed deliberations by the forum.