The Economic Co-ordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has decided to dedicate 100 MMCFD raw gas from Mari Deep reservoir to the new power projects near Mari gas field to be identified/selected by PPIB in accordance with the approved power policy.
The ECC took up the issue of allocation of gas from Mari Deep reservoir to the power projects at a meeting held here on Thursday under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz.
The meeting reviewed cost comparison of four options available to utilise gas.
It also approved allocation of gas from various fields to distributing companies and decided that gas from Chanda gas field and Manzalai/Gurguri gas field will be allocated to the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL). While the gas from Naimat Basal-1and Siraj South-1 (Khipro Block, District Sanghar and Kausar Deep-1 and Usman-1 (Mirpurkhas, District Hyderabad will be allocated to Sui Southern Gas Pipeline Limited (SSGPL).
The ECC discussed the Fertiliser Policy 2001. A report submitted by the Industries Ministry was reviewed which highlighted the reasons of lack of interest of private sector in the field of fertilisers. The meeting decided that consultations would be held with various stakeholders so that new investment and BMR would be encouraged for fertiliser production based on gas from dedicated fields.
The committee also reviewed sensitive price indicators, prices of sensitive items, position of existing wheat and flour stocks, wheat procurement by Passco and provincial governments. It also took important decisions on Fertiliser Policy, allocation of gas from various fields to distributing companies and discussed the issue of revamping of Aerial Wing of Ministry of Food and Livestock (Minfal) and decided that the recommendations should be submitted to the Cabinet.
The ECC especially focused on wheat and flour prices in the country. The Finance Ministry is monitoring the prices in 35 cities on daily basis.
It was noted that the prices are fluctuating and are higher in certain pockets of Sindh and Balochistan. It was also decided that: a) the provincial governments will be asked to monitor the prices, and take steps to stabilise the prices and bring them at a uniform level in their provinces.
The ECC approved that Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) will be the agency responsible for import of one million tonnes wheat, which would be kept as a buffer stock. Minfal will provide specifications to the Commerce Ministry for the import of wheat on priority. The ECC chairman instructed the concerned ministries to expedite the process.
The ECC expressed concern over increase in meat prices and decided that ban on the export of live animals would be strictly implemented. A committee comprising secretaries of Minfal, Ministry of Planning, Statistics, Commerce and Interior, has been constituted to examine all related issues, including determination of the factors behind price increase, internal demand and production of meat, the level of illegal movement on borders, import prices and to build a mechanism for better implementation of related laws.
It reviewed the prices of essential items and noted that the rate of inflation based on the CPI during July-May 2003-04 over July-May 2002-03 stood at 4.22 percent and during July-May 2002-03 over July-May 2001-02 it was 3.21 percent. During the week ended June 10, 2004, SPI for the combined income group and the lowest income group increased by 0.30 percent and 0.37 percent respectively over the last week (03.06.2004).
The ECC was informed that the prices of nine items in the Food Group and prices of 13 items in the Non-Food Group remained unchanged. The price of LPG decreased from Rs 358.79 per cylinder (11kg) to Rs 358.21 per cylinder (11kg) or by 0.16 percent. The prices of gas and electricity and phone calls remained unchanged at Rs 79.71 per MMBTU, Rs 2.51 per unit and Rs 2.31 local call respectively. The prices of diesel and petrol remained unchanged at Rs 24.50 per litre and Rs 37.05 per litre respectively. Except for CNG, LPG, kerosene oil and natural gas, the prices of various sensitive items in Pakistan continued to be lower than the neighbouring countries.
The ECC also reviewed a report of the committee constituted on February 24, 2004 to analyse the data regarding money transfer from abroad to determine the collation of foreign direct investment (FDI).
The report said that the State Bank has developed well-defined mechanisms and procedures for collating the FDI and remittances and as such there is little room for doubt on the accuracy of this data. The definitions adopted by the State Bank are standard and the accounting practices are in accordance with those adopted internationally in matters of foreign transactions.
The ECC decided that there is no serious deficiency that needs to be rectified in the matter of data collation of foreign direct investment and remittances. The existing system will continue.
It approved a summary statement of equity-based investment proposals approved by the State Bank for the third quarter of the current fiscal year, ie, from January 1, 2004 to March 31, 2004. It showed that during the period under review, the State Bank of Pakistan granted permission to seven cases costing $ 1.872 million.