• Approves Rs100bn financing facility for PSO
• Oil company facing over Rs900bn receivables from SOEs
• Special honoraria expanded to more ministries, departments
• Rs10.15bn cleared for Pakistan Navy’s Hangor Project
• Rs4.38bn granted to Gilgit-Baltistan ahead of elections
ISLAMABAD: Less than a week before the next budget, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Friday approved more than Rs40 billion in supplementary grants and a Rs100bn sovereign-guarantee-backed financing facility for the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), which is facing over Rs900bn in receivables from other state-owned enterprises, raising concerns about smooth oil supplies.
And despite financial constraints forcing development cuts in the name of IMF restrictions, the ECC meeting, presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, also allowed Rs10bn additional funds for parliamentarians’ development schemes and expanded the scope of special honoraria running up to six-month additional salaries to more ministries and departments involved in federal budget preparations.
The benefit, already available to officials in around a dozen ministries and entities, including finance, revenue, planning, development, FBR, National Assembly, Senate and the Prime Minister’s Office, was expanded to the Law and Justice Division, Commerce Division and the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR). The fiscal impact was not disclosed.
The meeting also changed the composition of a committee set up to settle about Rs60bn in petroleum levy dues charged to consumers but allegedly withheld by Cnergyico Refinery since 2019, citing concerns over conflict of interest, and ordered a tightened recovery plan.
An official statement said the ECC approved a summary submitted by the Cabinet Division for Rs7.026bn through a technical supplementary grant for the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP).
“The allocation will facilitate continuity of development projects, prevent cost escalations, and timely achievement of programme objectives,” the statement said.
Officials said the finance minister was under pressure from the leadership to provide funds for parliamentarians’ schemes in the outgoing fiscal year despite an about Rs175bn cut in the core development programme.
