ECC okays disbursement criteria for Rs 200bn Islami Sukuk

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has chaired a special meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) to review the disbursement of Rs200 billion generated from Islami Sukuk bonds, ARY NEWS reported on Saturday.

According to a handout issued after the meeting, the committee approved the disbursement criteria for the bonds.

The statement read that the ECC decided that the energy purchase price, inclusive of GST, would be paid to ensure maximum generation capacity was available during next three summer months (June, July and August 2020) according to the plan.

The capacity payments will be disbursed to meet the debt servicing and taxation requirements for the period from June to end August 2020 and payments to WAPDA, Nuclear Power Plants.

The partial settlement of import of power from Iran and NTDC transmission charges would be disbursed separately for operational requirements for public sector plants and entities, as WAPDA and Nuclear power plants comprise of more than 30% of the total planned generation in the next three months.

However, this disbursement criteria will be followed for funds released under Rs.200 bn only, the statement added.

ECC directed Ministry of Energy to submit a proposal in next two weeks setting up the general principles and exact formula of payments based on the principles for the future payments.

The ECC also approved a subsidy of Rs 662.157 million under the SME relief package for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan from the amount generated through the Sukuk bonds.

This amount would also include release of Rs 525.858 million in favor of the Kashmir government for disbursement amongst the eligible commercial and industrial consumers of electricity under the PM’s SME Relief Package.