The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved Rs,42.52 billion for conducting of general election in the country during the current fiscal year on demand of the Election Commission of Pakistan.
The ECC met under the chairmanship of Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar on Thursday.
Federal Minister for Commerce Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Power Mr. Khurram Dastgir Khan, Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Sherry Rehman, Minister of State for Petroleum Mr. Musadik Masood Malik, SAPM on Finance Mr. Tariq Bajwa, SAPM on Revenue Mr. Tariq Mehmood Pasha, Coordinator to the PM on Economy Mr. Bilal Azhar Kayani, Coordinator to PM on Commerce & Industry Rana Ihsan Afzal, Federal Secretaries and other senior officers attended the meeting.
The ECC considered and approved a summary of Election Commission of Pakistan regarding the demand for funds of Rs. 42.528 billion as TSG for conduct of General Elections in FY 2023-2024. The ECC allowed Rs. 10 billion as first release and further release on need basis.
The Federal Cabinet will likely to endorse the proposal of the ECC regarding of funds for general election in the country. It is pertinent to mention here that the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has announced to relinquish the government in second week of August make sure of holding general election on Oct or Nov 2023.
The ECC also approved a Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) of Rs. 200 million in favor of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) of PM Secretariat, which has been established to attract investment from GCC and other countries in the fields of Defence, Agriculture, Mineral, IT, and Energy.
The ECC considered a summary of Ministry of Information & Broadcasting regarding charging electricity rates to Cinema houses. In order to revive the film industry in Pakistan, the ECC approved the proposal that Cinemas may be charged electricity as per rates admissible to industry .
The ECC also considered a summary of Ministry of National Food Security & Research regarding the revision of Cess rates of Tobacco for the year 2023-24. The ECC approved revised Cess rates for the year 2023-24 as par Section 9 of PTB Ordinance 1968, on the basis of MIPs for the year 2023-24 as follows:
| Sr No. | Types of Tobacco | MIPs for 2023-24(Rs. Per Kg) | Current Cess Rates (Rs per Kg) | Revised Cess Rates (Rs per Kg) |
| 1 | Flue Cured Virginia (FCV) | |||
| i. Plain Area | 310.00 | 6.00 | 9.30 | |
| ii. Sub-Mountainous Area | 351.00 | 6.00 | 9.30 | |
| 2 | Dark Air-Cured Tobacco (DAC) | 190.00 | 3.60 | 5.70 |
| 3 | White Patta (WP) | 146.00 | 3.00 | 4.38 |
| 4 | Burley | 223.00 | 5.00 | 6.69 |
| 5 | Naswar / Snuff / Hookah and other Rustica Tobacco and its products | 146.00 | 3.00 | 4.38 |
| 6 | Sun Cured Virginia (SCV) | 200.00 | – | 6.00 |
The ECC also considered a summary of Ministry of Commerce regarding export of vegetable ghee/cooking oil from export processing zones to Afghanistan through land route and approved omission of Para 7(6) and para 7(7) of Export Policy Order (EPO) -2022, which specifies the conditions for exports to Afghanistan. The ECC further allowed amendment in Schedule –II of EPO-2022 to the extent of removing the exception regarding export of vegetable ghee/cooking oil from EPZs, manufacturing bonds and export oriented units to Afghanistan.