The federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) authorized a price increase for 49 different medications under the Minimum Retail Price (MRP) policy.
Despite this, the government asserted that the prices of these 49 drugs are between 24% to 77% less than the cost in neighboring countries such as India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
The list of medicines includes the Taflotan Ophthalmic Solution 0.0015% w/v OBS Pakistan, MultiBic 2 mmo1/1 potassium solution for hemodialysis/ haemofiltration by M/s Fresenius Medical Care Pakistan (Private) Ltd, MultiBic 4 mmo1/1 potassium solution for hemodialysis/ haemofiltration, MultiBic 3 mmo1/1 potassium solution for hemodialysis/ Haemofiltratio, among others.
In relation to international loans, the ECC also sanctioned a supplementary grant of Rs402.251 billion for debt servicing on Chinese and Saudi loans, primarily due to exchange rate fluctuations.
The originally expected exchange rate was Rs186 per US dollar, but it has depreciated, averaging Rs235 per US dollar.
The Ministry of Finance, post-meeting, announced that the ECC meeting was chaired by Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar.
The ECC approved a GoP guarantee of Rs9.5 billion for the Hyderabad-Sukkur motorway project construction on a build-operate-transfer basis.
It also approved Rs12 billion to purchase relief goods, allowing it to bolster its reserves and be better equipped to deal with potential disasters.
Furthermore, the ECC approved a proposal by the Ministry of Interior to allocate Rs66.336 million as TSG for building the Frontier Constabulary Training Center in Michni, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The ECC also approved supplementary and technical supplementary funding for 16 additional projects.
 has greenlighted a price rise for 49 drugs under the Minimum Retail Price policy and granted supplementary funds for various national projects. Discover more about this pivotal decision and its potential impact.){kind=link}