The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday approved a Rs50.69 billion relief package for small businesses reeling from COVID-19 economic shock.
The ECC meeting was chaired by Special Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the capital.
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According to Ministry of Finance, the package is aimed to provide “indirect cash flow support to small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) through pre-paid electricity.”
Earlier, Federal Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar in a Twitter statement said the ECC package will benefit 3.5 million small businesses. “For those with 5KW commercial or 70 KW industrial [power] connections, the govt will pay their electricity bills for up to 3 months after they restart,” he said.
He added power consumption data of traders from the past will be used as a benchmark for payment of their bills.
Azhar said that 90 per cent of all commercial and 80 per cent of all industrial connections in the country will benefit from this “cash injection in their businesses.” The businesses that will benefit from the package are of micro, small and medium scale, he cleared.
Detailing the micro aspects of the package, Azhar said: “The sums deposited in their bills will stay valid for utilisation upto 6 months. The sum will be based on actual consumption and total payments made from the meter in the May, June, July 2019 period combined.”
