The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet has approved Rs. 684 million under Technical Grant for the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) for the FY 2021-22. This grant will be provided by the Ministry of Economic Affairs by mobilizing advances from its resources.

The amount will be provided to NADRA as a mobilization advance for the development of the Somali National Identification System (SNDIS). Initially, NADRA had signed a three-year contract with the Somali government for the development of the system. The payment schedule issued by NADRA for the project is almost Rs. 1.8 billion ($10,300,896.00). However, NADRA requires an advance payment of Rs. 648 million to implement the project according to the schedule.

The committee also approved Rs. 200 million under TSG to the Ministry of Housing and Works (MoHW) for the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP). In addition, ECC also approved Rs. 20 million for the ministry for the execution of development schemes in Sindh province under SAP.

The Finance Division had been assigned to look over the case regarding the grant of Rs. 20 million to the MoHW. The division, after examining the case, has advised the ECC to grant the ministry the requested amount.

Ministry of Commerce presented a summary for grant of regulatory support for establishing barter trade arrangements with Afghanistan and Iran. The ECC, after discussion, allowed the regulatory cover to barter trade arrangements by amending relevant provisions of Export Policy Order (EPO) 2020 and Import Policy Order (IPO) 2020.

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib, Federal Secretaries, and other senior officers participated in the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Minister of Finance Shaukat Tarin.

Source: Pro Pakistan