ECC approves Rs2.268 billion grant for HEC

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved a grant of PKR 2.268 billion for the Higher Education Commission (HEC) on Wednesday. The grant aims to help the education commission complete various disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) under the International Development Association (IDA) credit facility.

The grant was brought up during a meeting of the ECC chaired by the Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh. A summary of the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MoFEPT) regarding a supplementary grant to the HEC under the World Bank was presented, and the grant was approved.

The meeting was attended by the Federal Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, the Minister for Privatization Mohammad Mian Soomro, the Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, the Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood, the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Revenue Dr. Waqar Masood, the SAPM on Petroleum Nadeem Babar, and the Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam.

The Governor State Bank of Pakistan Reza Baqir also attended the meeting via video link.

As a consequence of inadequate funds, the HEC had been unable to complete nine DLIs of the project which might have led to the cancellation of $218 million in financial support that had been given by the IDA for Pakistan’s education sector. Thus, acquiring enough funds to complete these DLIs was crucial.

The MoFEPT subsequently requested the ECC for a supplementary grant approval to fulfill the criteria for the accomplishment of the DLIs, and emphasized that it would “also ensure further disbursement of foreign exchange to the government”.

The grant gained approval and will now help the HEC in completing the requisite DLIs smoothly.

Moreover, the ECC also granted approval to a grant of PKR 30 million for the Ministry of Defence to enable it to purchase spare parts for helicopters for the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and PKR 400.020 million for the Ministry of Law and Justice to help it establish additional courts in compliance with the orders issued by the Supreme Court.