Pakistan's top economic decision-making body approved a package of export financing and subsidy measures on Monday, aimed at boosting overseas shipments and expanding support for small and medium-sized businesses. The Economic Coordination Committee also cleared a series of decisions on the power, petroleum and pension sectors.
What is the Economic Coordination Committee?
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) is Pakistan's top cabinet body for economic decision-making, chaired by the finance minister. It reviews and approves major financial, trade and sector-specific proposals submitted by government ministries and divisions.
What export subsidy measures did the ECC approve?
The ECC, chaired by Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb, approved three dedicated export finance subsidy schemes after considering a summary from the Finance Division. These include expanding the EXIM-administered Export Finance Scheme (E-EFS), launching a new Long Term Export Growth Financing Facility (LTEGFF), and introducing a performance-based rebate on incremental exports.
The package will provide fixed low-rate financing and strengthen support for exporters and importers, with special emphasis on including small and medium-sized enterprises. The ECC directed officials to present a performance report after six months to assess the schemes' effectiveness.
What other decisions did the ECC clear?
The committee approved a technical supplementary grant of Rs 4 billion requested by the Power Division to cover expenses linked to international arbitration proceedings initiated by independent power producers and major utility shareholders. It also approved transferring pensioners of closed government-owned generation companies to their respective electricity distribution companies for retirement benefit payments.
On petroleum, the ECC approved declaring the Pab reservoir in the Rehman-8 ST-3 well a Tight Gas Reservoir under the Tight Gas Policy, 2011. It also fixed tariffs for indigenous gas supplied to RLNG-based power plants connected to the SNGPL network for April, May and June 2026, and endorsed the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution's budget estimates for fiscal year 2025-26.
The meeting was attended by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal and Investment Minister Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh via video link, along with Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Education Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik, and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan.
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