ECC approves gas provision to Pak Arab, FFBL to meet urea demand, Rs2 billion for PSEB to promote IT exports.
ISLAMABAD: The draft of textile and apparel policy fails to get an approval of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet, as the ECC formed a sub-committee to review and present an updated policy before it in a couple of weeks.
The Ministry of Commerce presented the draft Textile and Apparel Policy FY2020-25 in the ECC meeting which was presided over by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin.
After due deliberation, the ECC constituted a sub-committee comprising representatives of Ministry of Commerce, Finance Division, Ministry of Industries and Production, Power and Petroleum Divisions, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to review and present an updated policy before ECC within a couple of weeks.
The secretary industries and production presented a summary regarding the provision of gas to Pak Arab and Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited (FFBL) to review demand for urea fertilizer during the Rabi season 2021-22.
After a detailed discussion, the ECC approved maximum provision of gas to Pak Arab (58 MMCFD) and FFBL (63 MMCFD) to ensure that estimated demand for urea fertilizer is met through domestic production. The said decision will stabilize prices of urea fertilizer and ensure its smooth supply throughout the country during Rabi season 2021-22.
The ECC considered and approved a summary presented by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication regarding the allocation of Rs2 billion as a single line budget for the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), an apex government body, mandated to strengthen and promote the IT sector exports of Pakistan.
Moreover, the ECC also approved the allocation of Rs4 billion to PSEB for the disbursement of cash reward incentives in order to incentivize IT exports and to encourage documentation of exporters/exports.
The cash reward incentive shall be provided for the IT and IT-enabled services exporters promoting export proceeds through banking channels via SBP allocated banking codes.
Those who attended the ECC meeting included Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar, Minister for Railways Azam Swati, Minister of State for Information Farrukh Habib, Advisor to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, federal secretaries, and other senior officers.
