by Khaleeq Kiani in Dawn, November 17th, 2020
ISLAMABAD: A meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday approved four major supplementary grants totalling Rs38 billion for security expenditures. It also approved Voluntary Separation Scheme (VSS) for the staff of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Presided over by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance & Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, the meeting was attended by Minister for Industries & Production Hammad Azhar, Adviser to PM on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, SAPM on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, SAPM Nadeem Babar and Governor of State Bank of Pakistan Dr Reza Baqir.
“The ECC also approved four separate Technical Supplementary Grants for the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior for various projects during current FY 2020-21,” an official statement said.
Informed sources said the ECC approved a request of the Ministry of Defence for additional allocation Rs26.9bn technical supplementary grants for the second phase of fencing along the Pakistan-Iran border during the current fiscal year.
The ECC also approved another Rs6.2bn technical supplementary grant for recurring cost of Special Security Division (North) of Pakistan Army.
A few days ago, a similar supplementary grant of Rs16.6bn was also approved by the ECC for Special Security Division (South).
These special divisions were raised a couple of years ago for fool-proof special security for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The meeting also approved allocation of Rs5bn technical supplementary grant for Internal Security Duty Allowance to the Pakistan Army.
The amount has become a regular feature of the supplementary budget for the past few years.
The flow of requests for supplementary grants at such an early stage of the fiscal year puts a question mark on the integrity of the government’s budget making exercise and normally leads to missed budget targets and higher than committed fiscal deficit, thus the need for excessive borrowing and debt-servicing cost.
Under another summary of the interior ministry, the ECC also allowed transfer of funds to the Ministry of Defence as a technical supplementary grant in the shape of logistic support for the maintenance of Cessna aircraft.
The ECC also approved another summary of the interior ministry for expenditure for payment to hired solicitors for pursuing cases in the UK……
https://www.dawn.com/news/1590757/ecc-okays-rs38bn-supplementary-grants-for-security
