Rs11b supplementary grants okayed.

ISLAMABAD -- The government on Tuesday approved Rs11 billion in supplementary grants including additional funds of Rs1 billion for schemes of parliamentarians ahead of next general elections.

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet agreed on an increase in allocation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from Rs90 billion to Rs91 billion.

SDG is an acronym used for the discretionary spending on projects recommended by members of the National Assembly.

The Ministry of Planning gave the additional Rs1 billion by reducing the budget allocation for the poor and backward districts of Pakistan. So far, Rs56 billion has been spent out of the earlier allocation of Rs90 billion.

For the current fiscal year, the government had set aside Rs70 billion for MNAs' schemes, which was first increased by Rs17 billion and then by Rs3 billion. Now, the third increase has been made in the allocation for MNAs' projects.

The Cabinet Division had sought Rs2.5 billion but the Ministry of Planning surrendered only Rs1 billion out of the funds earmarked for Pakistan's poorest districts.

The ECC approved Rs5.6 billion in supplementary grant for the payment of federal government's share in the import of urea fertiliser in January 2022.

It advised the Ministry of Industries and Production to ensure the early clearance of subsidy payable by provinces on urea imports.

The Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) had imported 100,000 tons of urea from China after obtaining loans from commercial banks based on the cash credit limit approved by the Finance Division.

Mark-up is being continuously charged on loans acquired by the TCP. The total amount of subsidy payable by the federal government including the mark-up up to April 30, 2023 was Rs5.4 billion.

The ECC did not take up a summary moved for import of 200,000 tons of more urea as a shortfall of 800,000 tons was anticipated if two local urea plants were closed due to gas shortage.

It approved an additional budget of Rs100 million for the National Highway Authority (NHA) for the construction of a road from Dalbandin to Ziarat...