Islamabad, Mar. 20 : Pakistan's Economic Coordination Committee has accepted the Ministry of Commerce summary seeking permission for bilateral trade with India through Wagah-Attari road link.

The proposal was made in the light of a decision taken in an earlier meeting between both the sides at New York on September 24, 2008.

The ECC advised the authorities concerned to implement it in a phased manner commensurate with parallel development of infrastructure on both sides of the border.

ECC, which constituted of constituted a Surveillance Committee under MINFAL comprising representatives of relevant Federal and Provincial Governments Organizations, met under the chairmanship of Adviser to PM on Finance and Economic Affairs, Shaukat Tarin, The Nation reports.

The committee also asked the Provincial Governments to take action against hoarders of food items as per law in order to provide relief to the common man.

The ECC reviewed Key Economic Indicators (KEI) and overall price situation in the country and noted that overall Consumer Price Index (CPI-based) inflation has registered a deceleration of 0.4 per cent during (July-February) 2009 over the same period of last year.

It was noted that forex reserves as on 16 March 2009 stood at 10.2 billion dollars that included impact of IMF's first tranche of disbursement and other positive inflows. It noted that inflationary pressures were likely to ease in the next few months owing to sharp decline in commodity prices particularly POL and Palm Oil.

With the Federal Board of Revenue collecting 702.5 billion dollars during the first eight months and Foreign Direct Investment during amounting 2587.7 million dollars, the ECC also noted that the overall workers remittances during (July-February) in the current financial year amounted to 4918 million dollars.

The ECC was informed that as on 8 March 2009 domestic wheat stock stood at 1.051 million tons, showing higher stock of about 0.422 million tons compared with last year.

Considering the Ministry of Petroleum's summary seeking approval to sign Gas Sale and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) with, the ECC okayed rationalized gas import proposal, simultaneously advising the Ministry of Petroleum to seek Cabinet ratification before signing the said GSPA with Iran. (ANI)