ISLAMABAD: A few weeks before the next fiscal year’s budget, the government on Monday approved about Rs34.4 billion worth of supplementary grants mostly to secure World Bank loans and set maximum retail price (MRPs) of four newly registered categories of cardiac stents.

The decisions were taken at a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, presided over by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, which also allowed expansion in the exploration licence area and extension in the well testing period to Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) and United Energy Pakistan Ltd (UEPL), respectively.

The meeting approved a Rs13.2bn supplementary grant, equivalent to $50 million to be obtained from the World Bank as the first tranche of a $85m credit line, to Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company Ltd (PMRCL) set up in June 2018 as a joint venture of nine local banks and International Finance Corporation (IFC) — a commercial arm of the WB.

The PMRCL is aimed to provide medium to long-term funding to primary mortgage lenders by raising from the capital debt market at cheaper rates.

Fixes prices of four new cardiac stents

The federal government owns 28.86pc of the company while the remaining 71.14pc shares are held by the National Bank of Pakistan, Habib Bank, United Bank, IFC, Askari Bank, Bank Alfalah, Bank Al-Habib, House Building Finance Corporation and Summit Bank for which the World Bank extended $140m credit line to the government in 2018 at 3pc interest rate.

The ECC also approved another Rs7.84bn supplementary grant as rupee cover against another World Bank loan for Financial Inclusion and Infrastructure Project (FIIP). The WB had approved $137m for the 5-year project in 2017 but the project, operated by the State Bank of Pakistan, suffered delays and cost overruns.

The World Bank agreed to extend the loan until June 2025. The ECC approved the supplementary grant, otherwise, Pakistan was required to return $33m to the World Bank immediately, because of non-utilisation.

On the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the ECC approved Rs8.4bn additional funds to meet its expenditures arising out of exchange rate losses from Rs186 per dollar at the time of budget allocation last year to Rs288 per dollar at present.

The ECC also approved another Rs5bn supplementary grant to the Ministry of Housing and Works for the execution of development schemes of erstwhile Fata out of a 10-year accelerated development plan.

Cardiac stent prices

On the recommendation of the National Price Fixing Committee for life-saving medical services, the ECC also approved the maximum retail price (MRP) of four newly registered cardiac stents including two of US origin, one of Japan and another of Turkiye and Italy.

Under the decision, the MRP of Promus PREMIER Select Monorail Coronary stent and DESyne X2 NECSS of US origin were fixed at Rs58,765 per piece and Rs72,450 per piece, respectively. The MRP of Ultimaster of Japanese origin was set at Rs65,507 per piece while that of Turkish/Italian origin Cre8 Amphilimus was fixed at Rs53,130 per piece.

Exploration

The ECC also grant an additional (free) area of 15.88 sq km in Soghri Exploration Licence to state-run OGDCL to drill an exploratory well close to its existing exploration area on the basis that a geological structure was extending into a free area in the northern part of Soghri Exploration Lease.

The committee also granted a six-month extension to UEPL for Extended Well Testing over Qabul-2 St-1 discovery in Khipro Exploration License with effect from Feb 22, 2023.

The ECC noted a presentation given by the Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority on its mandate and performance since its formation and directed it to review its model and submit a summary of its future needs.

Published in Dawn, May 9th, 2023