Cabinet approves POL dealers’ margin of profit

ISLAMABAD:

The federal cabinet approved a 99 paisa increase in dealers’ margins on the petroleum products and allowed the use of Pakistani territory by the Afghan nationals for travelling abroad, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday.

Speaking at a post-cabinet meeting news conference, the minister said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) election manifesto promised the right to vote to overseas Pakistanis and surely, the expatriates would get the right.

The cabinet meeting discussed the matters pertaining to the electronic voting machines (EVMs), strengthening the audit system of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), reducing inflation, stabilising prices and security measures for the West Indies cricket team’s tour.

The cabinet decided to abolish import duty on 40 items from Afghanistan and granted partial exemption from the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules to the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) for the import of 100,000 tonnes of urea in order to meet domestic demand.

Chaudhry said that the opposition was committing “political suicide” by participating in a campaign launched by some elements against the voting rights of the overseas Pakistanis. “It appears that only the PTI is responsible for the welfare of the overseas Pakistanis,” he said.

He added that it was beyond comprehension that the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) were taking part in the campaign to deny the right of vote to millions of expatriates, whose families lived in Pakistan.

He mentioned that almost the entire family of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was abroad, adding that his sons, Hassan and Husain Nawaz, might have torn up the Pakistani passport, but they would get the opportunity to vote for their father’s party if expatriates were given the voting right.

Similarly, Chaudhry said, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s objection to the use of the EVMs was also beyond his understanding, as the PPP chief had lived abroad for many years. “The stance of the PTI is that the opposition should first understand the working of the EVMs and then give its opinion,” he added.

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Continuing, the minister pointed out that the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had already given 27 recommendations for the EVM use, adding that the poll's supervisor should issue tenders on the same conditions. “The objective of the introduction of EVMs is to make election process free and fair.”

Referring to a meeting of the PTI members on the PAC with the prime minister recently, Chaudhry said a committee, comprising Shaukat Tarin, Dr Sania Nishtar, and Amir Dogar, had been constituted to suggest steps for strengthening the PAC.

The minister rejected a comparison of Pakistan with regional countries on inflation. He said that the cabinet was given a comparative study of the prices of essential commodities and it transpired that during the past two weeks Sensitive Price Index (SPI) had shown a downward trend.

From January, Chaudhry said, a rationing programme would be launched to provide a 30% subsidy to those earning less than Rs 31,000 per month. He added that the beneficiaries of this scheme would get flour at the price less than the rate in 2018.

Chaudhry appreciated the Sindh government for taking some steps to control the prices of daily use items in Karachi and Hyderabad. He added that sugar was available at Rs90 per kilogramme across the country except for Karachi and Islamabad, where it was being sold for Rs97 per kg. He said that an up to Rs4 per kg reduction in the sugar price was also expected in the coming days.

Similarly, vegetable oil was being sold at Rs399 per kg across the country. Though it was included in the list of essential items, it was imported from abroad. If its price would increase in the international market, definitely, it would also have an impact in Pakistan, the minister said.

“We are not drawing a comparison of the country with France and UK; rather it is being compared with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India,” he said. “There has been inflation in the country for the salaried class, but there is a need to adjust with the situation.”

The minister revealed that there had been an additional income of Rs400 billion in the agriculture sector this year. “There is a need to draw a comparison of income and expenditures to know the exact situation [about inflation],” he noted.

Sialkot lynching

The cabinet strongly condemned the lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager in Sialkot last week and termed the assault contrary to the Islamic teachings and tantamount to distorting the image of Pakistan. “Every citizen of Pakistan is condemning this act,” Chaudhry said.

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The prime minister and the cabinet directed the Punjab government to start the trial of the accused as soon as possible and take steps to punish them,” he added. “The Islamic Republic of Pakistan is committed to protecting the rights of every individual belonging to minorities.”

According to Chaudhry, “the way the Pakistani society and the government reacted to this tragedy, it shows that we are very different from India … where such incidents against Muslims happened on a daily basis but its government is reluctant to take any action against the culprits”.

Afghanistan

The cabinet allowed Afghan nationals to travel to other countries from the Pakistani airports. “The initiative is taken purely on humanitarian grounds, the minister said, adding that import duty on 40 items had been abolished for Afghanistan to provide solace to the Afghan people.

“Pakistan is trying its best to help Afghan people mitigate their sufferings in these tumultuous times,” he said, adding some 250,000 tonnes of wheat, including 50,000 tonnes from the World Food Programme (WFP) was being sent to Afghanistan.

When asked about reports that the prime minister had banned foreign visits of his cabinet members during the last cabinet meeting, the minister, while citing the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) rules, said reports quoting sources should be avoided as it promoted sensationalism.

Responding to another question about the wedding reception of the son of PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the minister said that PTI had political differences with the PML-N leader but “our main concern is that they must not arrange marriage ceremonies with the money looted from the Pakistani people”.

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The cabinet was briefed about the vacant posts of the managing directors (MDs) and chief executive officers (CEOs) in the Planning Division and the Culture Division. The cabinet okayed the appointment of Qazi Tahir as CEO of the Tribal Areas Electric Supply Company (Tesco).

Among other appointments, the minister said, Hannan Akram was appointed as a private member of the PPRA board and okayed the re-appointment of Aamir Ali Khan as the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) chairman.

Syed Attarur Rehman was given additional charge of the director-general for three months or till appointment of permanent DG of the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority (PSQCA), Chaudhry said.

He added that the ministers also okayed the confinement of Umer Saeed Khan for three months on the recommendation of the Interior Ministry because of his involvement in espionage and anti-state activities.

The cabinet okayed the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) decisions of November 22 and December 1. The minister also okayed an Rs1.99 increase in the profit margin of the oil marketing companies and the dealers’ margin.

(WITH INPUT FROM APP)