Traders reject power tariff hike

KARACHI: Former President ICCI Shahid Rasheed Butt in a statement said on Saturday that trading community had rejected 15 percent hike in the tariff of electricity on the behest of IMF.

Masses cannot brave the latest shock as they were already facing unemployment and unprecedented inflation, he said. The decision, which came six days after hiking in the price of petroleum products, should be reversed immediately in the interest of masses, he said.

Butt said that the policy of blaming the former government for everything to absolve the current administration of responsibility is no longer acceptable to masses after two and a half years in power. He noted that government functionaries have repeatedly claimed to reduce power tariff and circular debt but the ground reality is contrary to their claims.

The government continue to avoid reforms in the dysfunctional power sector and rely on tariff hike, but it has not improved the situation as recoveries have been reduced by five percent and losses have increased by 1.5 percent under the PTI rule, he said.

Butt said: "The government has also planned to increase power tariff once again in the month of April which will shock people again while pleasing the lenders. The government inherited a circular debt of Rs1.1 billion which has now jumped to 2.3 billion and may hit the mark of Rs3 trillion by the end of this fiscal which will be a nightmare of the struggling masses."

He demanded that the government should stop blaming predecessors for everything and do something to show their ability to manage the situation.