The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved, in principle, the provision of a technical supplementary grant of $150 million for the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccine.
This decision came as a result of the ECC evaluating a proposal submitted by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), Regulations & Coordination. The meeting was chaired by the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, here in Islamabad.
The Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) briefed the ECC that this shall be the first phase of procurement, and the amount of vaccine will suffice for the most vulnerable 5 percent of the population consisting of the health workers and the population above the age of 65 years. Around 10 million people would be provided a vaccine cover under the aforementioned arrangement.
The ECC further directed the Ministry of National Health Services to discuss the proposal with World Bank (WB), and other donors in coordination with Economic Affairs Division so that they could assist in providing the financing facility for the provision of the vaccine during the first phase and the procurement of additional quantities in future as needed.
Moreover, the Committee directed the Ministry of NHS to draft a holistic proposal regarding the pricing and risk mitigation mechanism for the procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine for provision on a wider scale, in consultation with the relevant stakeholders.
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The ECC also approved the request of the Economic Affairs Division to proceed with the formal request for availing the G-20 Debt Relief for the extended period, i.e., January-June 2021. Approval of the Federal Cabinet would still be required for the signing of the bilateral debt service suspension agreements.
The Committee also approved two technical supplementary grants for “Initiating the Process of Retrenchment of Pakistan Steel Mills Employees (PSM)” for an amount of Rs. 19.656 billion and “Prime Minister’s Special Package to Implement Skills for All Strategy as Catalyst for TVET Sector Development in Pakistan” for Rs. 500 million.
Furthermore, Rs. 689.3 million were also approved as budget re-appropriation for National Information Technology Board (NITB) for fulfilling its various requirements.
The ECC also approved the proposal by the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) for the allocation of 2.25 MMCFD gas from Umair -1 to M/s OGDCL for sale to M/s Engro at a mutually agreed and negotiated price, under a Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement subject to initiation of Field Development Plan and Development and Production Lease.
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ECC was also briefed on the status of wheat import through the Trade Corporation of Pakistan. Ministry of National Food Security and Research briefed the Committee on the provision of additional an 340,000 MT of Wheat. For this purpose, a tender was floated on 11-10-2020 and the bids were opened on 18-10-2020, and the lowest bid was accepted. The total quantity to be imported now stands at 2.248 MMT.
Minister for Industries and Production, Hammad Azhar, Minister for Economic Affairs, Khusro Bakhtiar, Adviser to the PM on Institutional Reforms and Austerity, Ishrat Hussain, SAPM on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar and SAPM on Revenue, Dr. Waqar Masood, also participated in the meeting.
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