The leader of MQM-P, Dr. Farooq Sattar, said Friday that his party will try to convince Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to further reduce energy rates, since there is still room to make this possible.
Prime Minister Shehbaz had announced on Thursday a reduction of RS7.41 per unit of energy rates throughout the country in an “important” aid package to reduce the burden of citizens who face exorbitant electricity bills.
Speaking in an event specially organized to announce the cutting of the rate, the prime minister said that an “EID” Gift “of RS7.41 per unit of reduction in the national average rate and 7.69 per cutting unit in industrial rates was the first humble relief for consumers who defy agonizing energy costs.
Speaking at a press conference in Karachi, Sattar said they will succeed in convincing the prime minister to further reduce electricity prices in RS6 per unit.
Sattar also said, Prime Minister Shehbaz had agreed to visit Karachi after EID and attend a public meeting of MQM.
“He [PM Shehbaz] It will address the public meeting of MQM and will even more strengthen the argument that electricity prices can be further reduced. ”
He added that they have granted their arguments in favor of reducing prices, saying that they were indirect taxes and that citizens should have the opportunity to increase their income and impose itself accordingly to work towards an economy based on growth.
Speaking about the reduction of energy rates announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz, he said: “MQM played an integral role in this reduction, and we were those who helped the government involve independent energy producers (IPPS) [o renegotiate agreements]”
When asked regarding the head of Jamat-I-Islami, Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, claiming credit for the reduction of energy prices, commented with a URDU saying that “this is similar to someone more claims credit for a development not related to them.”
On Thursday, the prime minister had said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had refused to allow the diversion of the financial impact of the lowest international prices of oil last month to reduce electricity rates and he himself wanted to take the matter with the IMF managing director, since he did not imply any subsidy, but simply did not approve the reduction of international oil prices.
“It was not easy to convince the IMF. Impasse finally ended and allowed us to reduce the power rate as a favor,” said the prime minister, adding that the matter should be handled with self -control, since the IMF program was a confidence of the nation that had been raped in the past and that it should be rebuilt.
The Per-Unit Tariff Reduction Announced by The Prime Minister Includes to Cut of About RS1.90 On Account of Lower Quarterly Tariff Adjustments (QTA) For the Second Quarter (October-Decmber) of Fy25, RS1.71 Against RS10 per liter Increase in Petroleum Levy on Petrol and Diesel, Over Re1 from A RS791 Per Unit Grid Levy on Industrial Captive Power Plants, and about RS3 on Account of Terminations and reviews in IPP contracts and government electric power plants.
Business owners have also welcomed the decision of the prime minister to reduce the energy rate, saying that “it will release financial pressure on consumers who fight with their electricity bills.”
M Abdul Aleem, general secretary of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Investors abroad (OICCI), said that “this is a good movement despite the rigid conditionities of the IMF and the limited fiscal space available for the government.”
JI asks for a greater reduction
Ji Hafiz Chief Naeemur Rehman, speaking separately, said that oil and energy rates should be further reduced.
“Although we welcome this reduction, we believe that prices can be reduced even more and this is the beginning of the process, not the end,” he said, adding that although international oil prices had reduced, that relief has not been transferred to national consumers.
He also criticized IPP owners for not paying their taxes, saying: “They have won billions of millions.”
The JI chief also said that the records show that IPP owners have received tax exemptions worth bills.
