KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group and President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), Mian Zahid Hussain has called for immediate implementation of the proposal to reduce power tariff during winters to boost demand and reduce dependence on gas.

A seasonal tariff will reduce burden on the government which is already paying billions for capacity payments and subsidies while it will reduce circular debt and benefit domestic and commercial consumers, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that power demand is reduced in winter but the government is bound to pay billions to IPPs which can be resolved to some extend by shifting gas consumers to electricity which will also reduce the intensity of the gas crisis.

He said that the proposal should be implemented as it may help reduce inflation to some extent.

He said that the energy ministry has estimated that such a policy will increase power consumption by 300 megawatts and reduce gas demand by 300 mmcfd, thus reducing the burden of the government.

He noted that the government is serious in taming inflation but it is betting on bureaucracy that has not delivered over the last three years and it will not deliver in the future. The only way to cut inflation is to take strict administrative action against profiteers and hoarders.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that CNG is being made more costly than petrol which will sink investments to the tune of billions of rupees.

Apparently, he said, the decision has been taken to control trade deficit and gas shortages in the upcoming winter but it will also leave hundreds of thousands of people unemployed.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021