ECC delays approval of Rs47 billion grant for general elections

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet deferred approval of an Rs47 billion grant to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for general elections, ARY News reported.

According to details, the ECC – chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar – deferred approval of an Rs47 billion grant to Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for general elections.

The electoral watchdog will again forward summary for approval of the technical grant.

Meanwhile, the ECC approved the Kissan package as proposed by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research submitted on Kissan Package-2022.

The package includes enhancement of agriculture loan disbursement from 1,419 billion to 1,802 billion, reduction in DAP price from 13,750 rupees to 11,250 rupees per bag and Interest free loans to convert three lac tube wells to solar.

Ministry of Energy, Petroleum Division submitted a summary on High Speed Diesel/Gas Oil premium and shared that the demand for HSD has been substantially increased due to ongoing sowing season and rehabilitation efforts after the floods in the country.

The forum also considered the summary of Ministry of Energy, Power Division on standardized security package agreements for large-scale solar PV projects for substitution of expensive imported fossil fuels based power generation under the framework and approved the summary except special payment mechanism and quarterly indexation as was proposed in the Summary.

The ECC after detailed discussion approved proposal of Finance Division for revision and renaming of Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan-Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme as Prime Minister’s Youth Business & Agriculture Loan Scheme with a view to make it more purposeful and beneficial for small businesses and agriculture. New components of interest free microloans and agriculture loans have been added in the new scheme.

The ECC approved the summary of the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations for technical Supplementary Grant as rupee cover for the remaining amount of ADB Financing Agreement of USD 12.20 million equivalent to Pakistani Rupee 2,928 million (out of USD 500 million committed by ADB), for procurement of COVID-19 vaccine and discharging liability of COVID-19 campaign during current financial year 2022-23.