Islamabad
Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Shaukat Tarin presided over Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Cabinet Division on Friday.
Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar and others also attended the meeting.
The Aviation Division submitted a summary on the financial challenges of Roosevelt Hotel, New York and request of PIA Investment Limited (PIA-IL) for re-rolling of principal amount i-e US$ 142 Million along with mark-up payments by NBP for further period of two years ending on 31st December, 2024.
PIA-IL is unable to pay the principal amount of the loan and mark-up payments on behalf of RHC due to closing/suspension of RHC, New York. The Economic Coordination Committee discussed and approved the proposal with directions to Aviation Division to prepare a roadmap for the permanent solution of the issue.
The ECC discussed and approved a summary tabled by Cabinet Division on proposals of NAPHDA for revision of customer pricing and mark-up subsidy period under Tier-I of Government mark-up subsidy scheme for low cost housing (for NAPHDA projects) and inclusion of Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) in G-MSS for housing finance with directions that there should be no direct involvement by the commercial banks in NAPHDA projects.
The ECC also approved a summary submitted by Ministry of Communication for extension in the timeline given to NHA for preparation of commercially viable Business Plan till June, 2022 with same conditions regarding CDL as decided by the Federal Cabinet. NHA’s debt restricting would be linked with the outcome of the business plan.
The ECC also directed Ministry of Communication to submit a monthly progress report regularly and prepare Business Plan well before deadline.
The ECC also approved the proposal of Ministry of Communication for special allocation of additional funds of Rs. 8,000 Million (Rs. 4000 Million as upfront Viability Gap Funding (VGF) and Rs. 4000 Million for overhead costs) against approved GoP’s share for the PSDP project titled “Sialkot (Sambrial)–Kharian Motorway Project (SKMP)).
Finance Division tabled a summary on the proposal of SBP for incentives for exchange companies against surrender of foreign exchange in the interbank market.
Under the proposal Exchange Companies may be provided cash incentives of PKR 1 against surrender of each USD mobilized from inward remittances.
Exchange companies are required to surrender 100% of inward remittances in the interbank market. The ECC approved the proposal with direction to review the model to achieve further improvement.
