The federal government on Monday approved the first purchase of wheat from Russia after the European country broke a UN-led agreement on supplies of the essential grain.
These and other important decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Federal Cabinet at the Finance Division on Monday.
Federal Minister Senator Ishaq Dar presided over the meeting. Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, MNA Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Finance Tariq Bajwa, SAPM for Revenue Tariq Pasha, Federal Secretaries, Federal Board of Revenue (FB) R) Chairman and other senior officers attended. Officers attended the meeting.
During the meeting, the Ministry of Commerce presented a summary of an offer made by Russian state-owned company Prodintorg to purchase wheat from Russia on a Government-to-Government (G2G) basis.
Under the proposal, Prodintorg will supply approximately 300,000 metric tons of specified milling wheat at a rate of $372 per metric ton.
Wheat will be supplied between November 1, 2022 and January 15, 2023.
The ECC approved the summary after deliberation.
OMC Margin
Another item on the agenda was a summary by the Power Division in the Ministry of Energy to revise the margins of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) on petroleum products.
After a comprehensive discussion, the ECC gave in-principle summary approval for revising the margin to an agreed amount of Rs 6 per litre.
However, the government decided to make its implementation subject to fiscal space in the pricing of petroleum products.
Thar Coal
The Ministry of Energy – Petroleum Division – submitted another summary to amend the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to launch the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – TCB – I (On Thar Coal) without financial lock-in.
The summary presented that the project is 90% complete but the company was unable to get financial close due to unforeseen events and reasons which delayed the approval of the censors and lenders.
Therefore, it is requested to consider and consider the effectivity of the PPA from the date of implementation i.e. 27th August 2019, and empower the CPPA to amend the PPA accordingly.
The ECC approved the summary after deliberation and added that it had to ensure that the tariff would not be affected by the decision and that the summary was being approved due to exceptional circumstances.
Ministry of Energy (Power Division) presented another summary on Pakistan Energy Revolving Fund (PERF). The ECC after deliberation approved the opening of an assignment account titled Pakistan Energy Revolving Fund (PERF) to be opened with SBP Islamabad and operated by CPPA.
