FRIDAY JANUARY 21: POL prices, rising inflation, energy shortages: proposals to be firmed up before January 26

ISLAMABAD: The PPP government and PML-N have agreed to implement the economic reform agenda on fast track basis and constituted committees that would give their proposals before January 26, 2011 to review the existing formula of petroleum pricing, gas and electricity load management and rising inflation.
Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh and Senator Ishaq Dar told media after the meeting that some decisions had been taken which would be finalised in the next meeting on January 26. Hafeez said that proposals of other political parties would also be incorporated in the reforms agenda to make it a broad-based initiative. Dar said the government had also agreed to implement the reforms agenda on an incremental basis and would not wait for 45-day deadline or timeframe. "The things which can be done quickly would be implemented immediately," he added.
The Finance Minister said the issue of inflation was given priority and it had been decided to convene a meeting of provincial Chief Secretaries on January 24 to finalise the strategy, which would be submitted to the next meeting between the economic team and leadership of Pakistan Muslim League (N) on January 26 for taking decision to control inflation. The minister said the federal and provincial governments would take joint steps to control inflation.
He said this was also decided by the committee to form a joint group to review the existing formula for determination of petroleum prices and give proposals to make it more transparent. The Minister stated that another joint committee having Sardar Mehtab Abbasi and Khurram Dastgir Khan of PML-N as its members was constituted to give recommendations regarding better electricity and gas load management. The proposals of the committee will also be placed before the next meeting, he added.
The minister said both the sides have agreed on the need for recovery of loans written off on political grounds and it was decided to take a briefing from the Governor State Bank of Pakistan on the issue. He said that mechanism for written off loan recovery would be finalised in the light of briefing given by the SBP governor.
Hafeez said the Cabinet Committee on Restructuring (CCoR) has finalised restructuring proposals of distribution companies and Pakistan Steel Mills board of directors. He said that a transparent procedure would be adopted for recruitment of managerial staff in the state owned enterprises.
Senator Dar said the mechanism of Chief Election Commissioner appointment as given in the 18th Constitutional Amendment was also discussed in the meeting and this was agreed that as a first step Speaker National Assembly would be asked to notify the parliamentary committee. He said that both the sides have agreed that accountability bill pending with the National Assembly Standing Committee would also be examined on priority basis. Hafeez and Dar said that both the sides are serious to bring the country out economic morass.