The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved the sale of 500,000 metric tons of wheat from the stocks of the Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation (PASSCO).

The meeting was chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb. According to an official statement, the wheat will be sold through competitive bidding on a first-in, first-out basis.

The ECC fixed a new reserve price of Rs4,150 per maund for local wheat and approved a reserve price of Rs3,800 per maund for imported wheat.

The decision was taken in view of rising storage costs and surplus stocks after an earlier attempt to sell wheat failed due to low bids. The Ministry of National Food Security had submitted a summary to the committee.

The ECC also approved a technical supplementary grant of Rs536 million for Pak-PWD. The amount will be released to the governments of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A report regarding a delay in petroleum levy payments by Cnergyico was deferred for further review.

The meeting was attended by federal ministers, special assistants and senior officials of relevant ministries.