ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Thursday approved the Finance Division proposal regarding the issuance of a sovereign guarantee amounting to Rs20 billion for investment in National Investment Trust’s (NIT) State Enterprise Fund.

The ECC meeting was held in Islamabad with Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the chair.

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research secretary updated the committee about the wheat situation in the country. He informed that the country was in a comfortable position having 7.257 million tonnes of wheat available in the stock.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs suggested various proposals for the revival and development of the shipping industry in Pakistan. The committee noted the proposals and advised the ministries of petroleum and maritime affairs to jointly come up with a comprehensive proposal in next ECC meeting to introduce a dynamic shipping policy focusing on expansion and development of local shipping industry.

The ECC acceded to the proposal of Ministry of States, Frontier Regions to grant Rs781,591,000 to arrange 20,000 metric tonnes of wheat for temporarily displaced persons of erstwhile FATA.

The ECC also approved supplementary and technical supplementary grants for various ministries and divisions.