AVN Correspondent
ISLAMABAD: National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) has been directed by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet to coordinate with the provincial governments to ensure price stability and to check hoarding and profiteering.
The cabinet committee meeting was chaired by Caretaker Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, and Economic Affairs, Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, according to a press statement issued by the finance ministry.
The direction was issued after the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) briefing on the inflation situation and the latest trends of prices of various essential commodities.
The committee also approved the budget for Employee Old Age Institution (EOBI), the summary for which was moved by the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development.
ECC was told that EOBI’s contribution collection recently witnessed a substantial increase of around Rs100 billion after stagnation during the past years. EOBI was lauded for its performance and directed to strictly follow the budget calendar and prepare a long-term plan to clear the Rs2 trillion liabilities of pension dues.
Meanwhile, ECC discussed the summary for approval of the TAPI project as Qualified Investment Incentive Package under the Foreign Investment (Promotion and Protection) Act, 2022 (FIPPA). The forum observed that the project should be launched without delay. However, it called for more detailed discussion on the proposal for inclusion of the project under the FIPPA Act and examination of the legal aspects, incentives and concessions.
The committee also approved the principles for settlement of capacity deduction issues of projects based on imported coal and execution of a side agreement with Port Qasim Electric Power Company. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee meeting on State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) approved publication of a consolidated report of the SOEs for FY 2019-2020, 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
The meeting was attended by Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Minister Sami Saeed, Energy Minister Muhammad Ali, Communications, Maritimes Affairs and Railways Minister Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Law and Justice Minister Ahmed Irfan Aslam, Advisor to PM on Finance, Dr Waqar Masood, FBR Chairman Malik Amjed Zubair Tiwana, EOBI Chairperson Ms Naheed Durrani, federal Secretaries, and other senior government officers concerned.
