Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin presided over the ECC meeting. Photo courtesy Radio Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Wednesday approved payment of Rs90 billion to 35 independent power producers (IPPs). The ECC also decided to give a last chance to K-Electric (KE) for settling Rs212bn payments and inking an agreement for additional power intake from the national grid on timely payments.
The ECC meeting, presided over by Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin, also approved lowering taxes on Chinese investors of hydropower projects in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK), exempting the import of oxygen and related equipment from duties and taxes besides an additional Rs27.5bn grant for disaster management schemes in Karachi.
ECC approves Rs90 billion payment to 35 IPPs
Business
May 6, 2021
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee of the Cabinet (ECC) on Wednesday approved Rs90 billion as the first installment of outstanding payments to 35 independent power producers (IPPs) and withheld disbursal for 12 IPPs under the NAB investigation.
The ECC also approved targeted subsidies mechanism for power sector in principle and directed to finalize modalities to link it with Ehsaas program.
When asked about the possibility of $1.5 billion program approval from the World Bank till end June 2021, Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin said the power tariff could not be hiked but the targeted subsidies were approved because it was prior action of WB’s loan program. Tarin said the power tariff could not be increased and the WB’s high-ups are empathetic about it.
ECC Approves First Installment to 35 IPPs
The Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet on Wednesday approved payment of the first installment to 35 IPPs out of a total 47, whereas payment to the remaining 12 IPPs (under Power Policy 2002) may be withheld owing to the NAB investigation.
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Mr. Shaukat Tarin, chaired the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet today.
Power Division presented a summary before the ECC regarding the release of the first installment of payment to IPPs. Secretary Power Division briefed the Committee about the recommendations of the sub-committee constituted during ECC last week. The ECC approved payment of the first installment to 35 IPPs out of total 47 whereas payment to the remaining 12 IPPs (under Power Policy 2002) may be withheld owing to the NAB investigation.
The development challenge
April 21, 2021
Global wisdom is increasingly reaching the conclusion that the holistic model of human development is the real answer to the present and evolving challenges faced by the global community.
In recent years, a tremendous amount of research has emerged that demonstrates linkages between lack of human development and the unrest, insecurity and inequality experienced by large swathes of the developing world, especially Pakistan. Underdevelopment is a risk factor for violent conflict and it is assumed that low-income countries face a risk of internal conflict around 15 times greater than economically stable and developed countries.
As a result, national governments and international key stakeholders are now convinced that lack of investment in human development is a major impediment to sustainable development across the globe. These institutions are now progressively inclined to invest in human development that focuses on the education, health
The road to prosperity
Pakistan needs an economic transformation policy framework to overhaul its economy by redefining and restructuring its resources as well as incentives for economic growth. This policy framework is necessitated to achieve sustainable development goals by improving social and human capital indicators. The macroeconomic transformation framework revolves around some of the key initiatives like pursuing a growth model promoting investment, public-private partnership, infrastructure development, large scale manufacturing, enhancing exports, ensuring energy and food security. The ICT infrastructure and knowledge economy are pivotal to this model. Last but not least, institutional reforms are absolutely necessary for the good governance necessary for implementation of this economic framework.