ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Wednesday approved financing facility for electric bikes and rickshaws to promote their use and to augment the purchasing power of the lower and lower middle classes.

A meeting of the federal cabinet, presided over by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, decided to give loans of Rs500,000 at zero mark-up under the Prime Minister’s Youth Business and Agriculture Loan Scheme.

In another significant decision, the meeting approved a proposal that an ‘Investment Pakistan’ office be established under the Board of Investment (BOI) that will function under public-private partnership.

“The cabinet gave a nod to the legislation over Invest Pakistan initiative on the recommendation of the Board of Investment,” it added.

The meeting approved the appointment on deputation of Syedain Raza Zaidi, a Grade 21 officer of Inland Revenue, as chairman of the Karachi Port Trust. The cabinet approved guidelines for carrying out amendments in order to implement a decision taken in 2017 that made it mandatory for all ministries and divisions to carry out changes in their acts and rules by replacing the words ‘Federal Government’ with ‘appropriate authorities’.

The meeting ratified the decisions taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on April 13. These included declaration of Angor Adda custom station in South Waziristan as ‘Export Land Route’ for Afghanistan and Central Asian countries.

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2023