Cabinet Decides to Deregulate Prices of Non-Essential Drugs
Staff Report
The cabinet has decided to deregulate the prices of non-essential drugs.
However, the prices of those medicines included in the list of essential categories will not be deregulated.
The cabinet has approved the restructuring of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to unbundle the national carrier into two companies.
Federal Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar
The Federal Cabinet meeting was held under the chairmanship of Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of National Health, the Federal Cabinet approved the proposals regarding the de-regulation of the prices of those medicines that are not included in the National List of Essential Medicines.
Under these proposals, prices of drugs other than essential drugs in the National List will be exempted from the Drugs Act, of 1976 and necessary amendments will be made in the Drug Pricing Policy 2018. Cabinet Approves increase in 146 medicines
Furthermore, the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council will ensure that vitamins, multivitamins, minerals, and over-the-counter products are not prescribed to patients by doctors.
The Drug Regulatory Authority will compile a list of vitamins, multivitamins, minerals, and over-the-counter products as per the prevailing international standards and will also be in touch with the provincial governments in this regard.
The Federal Cabinet approved the restructuring of Pakistan International Airlines on the recommendation of the Privatization Division.
The meeting was told that Pakistan International Airlines has been in losses for the past several years.
The Cabinet was informed that in the previous meetings of the Cabinet, the appointment of a Financial Advisor was approved for financial and administrative restructuring of PIA.
The Cabinet was further told that the Financial Advisor has formulated a financial restructuring plan for PIA in keeping with international precedents under which PIA would be divided into two companies, TopCo and HoldCo.
PIA’s core operations of engineering, ground handling, cargo, flight kitchen, and training will be incorporated into Top-Co while other entities such as Precision Engineering Complex, PIA Investment Limited, and others will be incorporated. Subsidiaries and properties will be included in Hold-Co.
These measures will help attract capital investors to PIA.
The Federal Cabinet also directed the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Privatization to deal with the matters related to the PIA settlement of government-owned enterprises as soon as possible.
The Federal Cabinet approved the privatization of First Women Bank Limited on the recommendation of the Ministry of Privatization.
The Federal Cabinet approved the decisions taken in the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee held on 01-02-2024.
The Federal Cabinet approved the appointment of Lieutenant General Tahir Hameed Shah as a member and chairman of the Pakistan Ordnance Factories Board on the recommendation of the Ministry of Defense Production.
The appointment of Lieutenant General Tahir Hameed Shah will be effective from 29 November 2023.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Cabinet awarded Major Abid Mansoor Khan “Not Shujaat” on behalf of the Ministry of Defense of Saudi Arabia in recognition of his services. (Note-e-Shujaat) and allowed to receive the award of “Note-e-Sharf”.
The Federal Cabinet, on the recommendation of the Ministry of External Affairs, permitted Mohammad Ashraf Khan, Protocol Officer, to receive a gold medal from the Government of Austria in recognition of his services.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Cabinet awarded Air Commodore Syed Imran Ali the Defense Cooperation Award First Class for his services as Defense Attaché at the Pakistani Embassy in Tokyo.
On the recommendation of the Ministry of Law and Justice and the proposal of the Chief Justice of Peshawar High Court, the Federal Cabinet approved the conversion of 4 out of 8 accountability courts in Peshawar into special courts.
Apart from this, the proposal of the Chief Justice Peshawar High Court has been approved regarding the appointment of judges of these courts. The remaining courts will continue to function as accountability courts. These changes will not put any additional burden on the national exchequer.
