Overview
- The Economic Coordination Committee approved a technical supplementary grant of Rs6.6 billion for the purchase of 30 bullet‑proof vehicles, a decision the ECC made on Monday and conditioned on a further needs analysis from the Cabinet Division.
- The Cabinet Division had originally sought Rs12.6 billion to buy a larger fleet that it detailed as 35 Mercedes 680 S45 class armoured cars, 29 BMW X5s and six Toyota LC300s, and it also requested exemptions from customs duty, sales tax and federal excise duty.
- Official statements did not say whether the ECC granted the tax and customs exemptions the Cabinet Division asked for, leaving the fiscal treatment of the purchases unclear in the public release.
- The Cabinet’s submission sought delivery in the May–July 2027 window ahead of the SCO Council of Heads of State summit in Islamabad in September 2027 and a separate government committee had estimated a possible need for about 65 vehicles to cover all delegations.
- At the same meeting the ECC approved safeguards on exports of donkey meat and hides from the Gwadar Free Zone and deferred a Food Security Ministry proposal on tobacco minimum indicative prices pending stronger justification, showing the committee is exercising wider fiscal and regulatory oversight.