ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved a technical supplementary grant (TSG) amounting to Rs5.57 billion on account of federal government’s share of subsidy on imported urea fertilizer besides Rs1 billion additional amount for ongoing development schemes of parliamentarians under SDGs Achievement Programme (SAP).
The meeting of the ECC presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar was informed that as per the cabinet’s decision the subsidy on imported urea will be shared at 50:50 basis – 50 percent to be borne by provinces and 50 percent by the federal government.
The meeting was told that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) has imported 100,000 metric tonnes of urea from China, in pursuance of the Cabinet’s decision and the said urea was distributed to provincial governments by the National Fertilizer Marketing Limited (NFML).
Urea production: Fertiliser plants to get gas till May 31st: ECC
As TCP has imported urea by obtaining loans from commercial banks on the basis of cash credit limit approved by the Finance Division, markup is being continuously charged on the loans obtained by the TCP. The total amount of subsidy payable by federal government, including markup up to 30 April 2023 was Rs5.358 billion, whereas, it would be Rs5,568 billion by 30th June 2023.
The ECC was further informed that an amount of Rs6 billion is available with the Finance Division for payment of subsidy on import of urea fertiliser. Therefore, it is proposed that TSG of Rs5.57 billion may be released to Ministry of Commerce being the administrative division of the TCP for the current financial year, as there would be a time lag between approval of the TSG and release of funds to the TCP.
Any excess funds released to the TCP would be deposited by TCP in government exchequer. The Ministry of Industries and Production may be advised to ensure early clearance of subsidy payable by the provinces on imported urea.
The meeting was also informed that the Finance Division has concurred with the allocation of the TSG. The Ministry of industries and Production has informed that government of Punjab and government of KPK had agreed to share the subsidy on 50:50 basis but still no funds have been released by them so far.
Moreover, the Government of Balochistan has declined to share 50 per cent cost of subsidy and government of Sindh has not provided any response so far. Therefore, the MoIP has suggested that the Ministry of Finance may take the lead in this task for early settlement of the issue of payment by provinces to TCP as per the ECC’s decision. The ECC further advised the Ministry of Industries and Production to ensure early clearance of subsidy payable by the provinces on imported urea.
The ECC also approved the Ministry of Communication’s summary with respect to TSG amounting to Rs100 million for the construction of 77-kilometer road from Daladin to Ziarat Balanosh and Rs1,666 million in favour of the National Highways Authority (NHA) regarding the restoration of provincial damaged roads during flood 2022 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan, and Sindh.
The ECC also approved Rs17.3 million in favour of Prime Minister’s Inspection Commission to meet its employee-related expenditures and Rs922 million in favour of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) for the execution of the development project “Construction of 2nd Circuit stringing from Jiwani to Gwadar.”
The ECC meeting also approved Rs1 billion in favour of the Cabinet Division for SDGs Achievement Programme (SAP) for ongoing schemes as well as Rs50 million in favour of the Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety for SOS Children’s Villages, Pakistan and Rs550 million in favour of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for publicity/awareness campaigns of the federal government during the current financial year.
A TSG of Rs1,146.284 million in favour of the Ministry of Commerce for Pakistan’s Trade Missions abroad was also approved by the ECC.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Industries and Production Syed Murtaza Mahmud, Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha, SAPM on Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Coordinator to the PM on Economy Bilal Azhar Kayani, Coordinator to PM on Commerce and Industry Rana Ihsan Afzal, federal secretaries, and other senior officers.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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