The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved a one-month salary for employees of Pakistan Steel Mills employees and sought plan for operationalisation of the PSM as it has been excluded from the privatisation list. A meeting of the ECC presided over by Finance Minister Asad Umar on Wednesday directed Ministry of Industries to take immediate action for disbursement of outstanding dues to the widows of PSM's deceased employees for the last four years.
The proposal for disbursement of Rs 367 million for September 2018 to the employees of PSM was submitted to the ECC by the Privatisation Division. The ECC directed Ministry of Industries and Production to submit a detailed proposal to the ECC for PSM's operationalisation.
The ECC also allowed import of 50,000 tonnes of urea to meet requirements of farmers in Rabi season 2018-19 after it was informed that total off-take of urea in the Rabi season 2018-19 is estimated at 3,035,000 tonnes.
The ECC was informed that on 10-09-2018 operationalisation of two out of three closed fertilizer plants - M/s Fatimafert and M/s Agritech Limited - was allowed for sixty days and it was also decided to import 100,000 tonnes of urea through Trading Corporation of Pakistan to meet the requirement of Rabi crop. The situation of urea availability with two plants non-operational since November 2018 depicts that urea availability will be at margin in December 2018 and negative in January and February 2019.
The ECC was further told that prices of urea have also started surging from Rs 1,610 per bag to Rs 1,740 per bag and if availability of urea is not maintained, there is a danger of price hike during the peak months of December 2018 and January 2019. The ECC was requested for making operational Fatimafert and Agritech with subsidised mix of RLNG and system gas and import of 100 million tonnes of urea, however, ECC allowed import of 50,000 tons urea.
The committee authorised the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce & Industries to allow import of an additional quantity of 50,000 tonnes of urea, if needed. In addition, the ECC also directed that fertilizer plants may be kept fully operational for whole of Rabi season for adequate production of urea and prevent its shortage. The ECC also decided that no undue increase in prices of urea will be acceptable on the pretext of increase in gas prices.
The ECC also considered the proposal of Ministry of National Food Security & Research regarding support/procurement price of wheat for 2018-19 crop and decided to maintain the wheat support price at the current level of Rs 1300 per 40kg. The ECC was informed that wheat prices in the international market are considerably lower and the government of Pakistan is incurring a huge expenditure in the wheat procurement process to protect the interests of farmers.
The ECC also approved proposal of the Ministry of Food Security for enhancing Pakistan's share of wheat for the SAARC Food Bank Reserve from 40,000 tonnes to 80,000 tonnes, adjusting it in the existing quantum of one million metric tonnes of national strategic reserves assigned to PASSCO.
The chairman FBR briefed the meeting on tax collection from the sugar industry. He suggested that a revised mechanism be put in place to ensure that the full amount of due taxes is recovered from the industry. The ECC directed the FBR to place the matter before the Cabinet after consulting the stakeholders within one week.
The ECC directed the Power Division to actively engage with companies/entities concerned to facilitate clearance of PSO's outstanding receivables (over Rs 300 billion) as early as possible to guard against any risk of disruption in supply chain of petroleum products.
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