Friday’s meeting of the Cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) was presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar.
Detailed information about the debt refinancing of Power Holding Limited and a surcharge to recoup markup fees were supplied by the Ministry of Energy’s Power Division.
Surcharge of Rs. 1 Per Unit :
Following discussion, the ECC approved the proposal to recover Rs. 76 billion while exempting non-ToU domestic consumers who consume less than 300 units and private agriculture consumers in the four-month period from March 2023 to June 2023. Additionally, the ECC allowed the imposition of an additional surcharge of Rs. 1 per unit for the fiscal years 2023–24 in order to recover additional markup charges of PHL loans that are not covered by the already applicable FC surcharge. The aforementioned levies will be applied to K-Electric customers in order to maintain a uniform pricing throughout the nation.
The meeting ordered the Finance Division to issue a Government Guarantee for repayment of principal as well as interest, fees, and other costs associated with the new facilities totaling Rs. 283.287 billion. The meeting also postponed PHL’s principal installments due in relation to Rs. 283.287 billion for a period of two years from the date of execution of fresh facilities.
Fuel Adjustment Charges
Regarding the recovery of the staggered Fuel Charges Adjustment applicable for the months of August and September 2022, the ideas in another brief from the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) were taken into consideration and agreed by the committee.
The ECC waived electricity bills for the months of August and September 2022 for non-ToU household consumers with less than 300 unit consumption and postponed electricity bills for the month of September 2022 for business consumers in the flood-affected districts until the next billing cycle. The ECC also authorised an additional Rs. 10.34 billion supplementary grant to pay for the exclusion of power costs in flood-affected districts.
Due to the lack of a Program Management Unit (PMU) at the Finance Division, the ECC considered and approved in principle a summary of the Finance Division’s Kamyab Pakistan Program and entrusted the State Bank of Pakistan to verify the claims of Wholesale Lenders (WLs) after due diligence.
The ECC took into account a summary from the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division and approved the declaration of commerciality (DOC), field development plan (FDP), and development and production lease (D&PL) for M/s United Energy Pakistan (UEP) Beta for a period of five years starting on January 25, 2022.
The Missa Keswal Development and Production Lease (D &PL) covering an area of 23.43 square kilometres in district Rawalpindi, Punjab, was renewed with a two-year extension by the ECC beginning on April 11, 2022, after the ECC also took into consideration another summary from the Ministry of Energy’s (Petroleum Division).
A technical extra grant for the Ministry of Defence in the amount of Rs. 450 million was also authorised in principle by the ECC.
Syed Naveed Qamar, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister of Power, Syed Naveed Qamar, SAPMs Tariq Bajwa, Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Dr. Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Chairman SECP, Federal Secretaries, and other top officials were present at the meeting.
