The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Tuesday authorized the Finance Division to approve the payment of projected net salary of Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM) employees for the first 6 months of the Financial Year 2023-24, reported the 24NewsHD TV channel.

These disbursements will align with PSM's monthly salary demands and will be funded from the previously approved budgetary allocation of Rs10 billion. The summary regarding the disbursement of salary of PSM employees for the FY23-24 was tabled by the Ministry of Industries & Production.

The Caretaker Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, & Economic Affairs Dr. Shamshad Akhtar chaired the meeting of the ECC.

The Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives gave a briefing about the trends of Major economic Indicators and trends in the Prices of important food items.

The ECC directed Ministry of National Food Security and Research to prepare and submit regular reports on availability of stocks, consumption, and pricing of all staple items specially Wheat and Sugar to the ECC in order to enable it to monitor the availability and pricing of these important commodities.

 Furthermore, the committee directed the Ministry of Planning, Development, & Special Initiatives to ensure control on undue profiteering and to maintain the gap between wholesale and retail prices of the essential food items and consumer products through respective Chief Secretaries.

The ECC, after discussion, directed the Ministry of Energy to prepare a detailed analysis of the financial implications of this decision and bring it in the next ECC meeting for discussion and approval. Sami Saeed, Minister for Planning, Development and special Initiatives, Gohar Ijaz, Minister for Commerce, Industries, and production, Shahid Ashraf Tarar, Minister for Communication, Maritime, and Railways, Muhammad Ali, Minister for Power and Petroleum, Umar Saif, Minister of IT and Telecommunication, Advisor to PM on Finance Dr. Waqar Masood, Governor SBP, Chairman SECP, Federal Secretaries and other senior officers attended the meeting.