ISLAMABAD: A recent meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet, which reviewed wheat procurement targets, was extended to a second day in order to take the provinces on board, a finance ministry official told Dawn.

The ECC meeting, held last week, was supposed to approve summaries for the provinces’ cash credit limits, among other matters. During the meeting, it was suggested that the provinces should also be consulted, and their representatives were invited to give their input via Zoom, the official said.

The Ministry of Finance did not issue its customary concluding statement after the meeting ended on April 5.

But a statement issued subsequently said that after considering the views of the relevant federal ministries, ECC members “felt that it would be advisable to include the provincial governments in the deliberations”.

This was why the meeting was “reconvened” on April 5, the statement said.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2024