- Finance minister says budgetary needs of many organisations were not assessed properly during the preparation of last year’s budget
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday has constituted a committee to oversee the implementation on Ramadan Package.
During the ECC meeting, chaired by Finance Minister Asad Umar, the Industries and Production Division gave a presentation about the status of Ramadan Package. The committee directed the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) to expedite the procurement of essential consumer items so as to provide timely relief to the people in the holy month of Ramadan.
It also constituted a four-member committee to be headed by Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed to oversee the implementation of Ramazan Package.
According to officials of the finance ministry, the committee on Wednesday reviewed the proposals of various ministries/divisions.
The Ministry of Petroleum briefed the ECC on the implementation of the committee’s decision regarding utilization of services of Pakistan Railways for transportation of petroleum products across the country. The Ministry of Railways informed the committee that it had the capacity to carry higher volumes and would work with the Ministry of Petroleum to explore further possibilities.
The ECC approved, in principle, the proposal of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting which had sought to run a media campaign to disseminate information with regard to initiatives on Poverty Alleviation Programme, Sehat Insaaf Scheme, PM’s Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme etc.
Speaking on the occasion, the finance minister said that the budgetary needs of many organizations were not assessed properly during the preparation of budget last year, leading to a large number of demands for supplementary grants.
He emphasized the need for proper budgeting of the financial needs of various departments, which would obviate the need for supplementary grants during the fiscal year. He stated that the government is determined to phase out the supplementary grants in future budgets.
