ECC approves Rs50 bn relief package for small businesses

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday approved a Rs50.69 billion relief package for small businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh presided over a meeting of the ECC in the capital.

The Ministry of Finance in a tweet said the Rs50.69 billion package is aimed to provide “indirect cash flow support to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) through pre-paid electricity.”

ECC meeting chaired by Adviser to PM on Finance & Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh today approves Rs 50.69 billion package to provide indirect cash flow support to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) through pre-paid electricity.

— Ministry of Finance (@FinMinistryPak) April 27, 2020

Separately, Federal Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar in a Twitter statement said the ECC today approved the package that will benefit 3.5 million small businesses. “For those with 5KW commercial or 70 KW industrial [power] connections, the govt will pay their electricity bills for up to 3 months after they restart,” he said.

He added power consumption data of traders from the past will be used as a benchmark for payment of their bills.

The minister said 90 per cent of all commercial and 80 per cent of all industrial connections in the country will benefit from this “cash injection in their businesses.” The businesses that will benefit from the package are of micro, small and medium scale, he cleared.

Elaborating the nuts and bolts of the package, he said: “The sums deposited in their bills will stay valid for utilisation upto 6 months. The sum will be based on actual consumption and total payments made from the meter in the May, June, July 2019 period combined.”

ECC approves Rs50 bn relief package for small businesses reeling from coronavirus shock