Category: Highlights

PM Shehbaz confirms IMF role in budget prep

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PM-Shehbaz

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif confirmed on Tuesday that the federal budget for next year was prepared in collaboration with the Inter­national Monetary Fund (IMF). His remarks came as Finance Minister Muha­mmad Aurangzeb ann­ounced significant ame­ndments to the proposed finance bill for 2024-25.“We had to prepare the budget jointly with the IMF” because of the prevailing circumstances and ground realities, the prime minister said in the Natio­nal Assembly when he took the floor briefly to respond to some points raised by a PTI member regarding the prevailing sense of deprivation in south Punjab, taxes…

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Gas Tariff to Rise for Captive Power Plants from July 1

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OGRA

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided against reducing gas prices from July 1, 2024, despite the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority’s (OGRA) recommendation to lower them by 10% for the next fiscal year. Instead, gas prices for captive power plants (CPPs) will increase by Rs250 per mmBtu to Rs3000 per mmBtu from the current Rs2750 per mmBtu, aligning with International Monetary Fund (IMF) directives. “For all other categories, the government has opted to maintain current gas prices,” said senior Energy Ministry officials. This decision is expected to generate Rs110-115 billion in…

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Calls for Hesco Privatization Amid Outages and Corruption

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power-subsidy

KARACHI: Hyderabad business leaders are demanding the outsourcing of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) due to persistent electricity outages, corruption, and rising tariffs. They cite the company’s inability to provide reliable electricity to commercial and domestic consumers, causing significant disruptions and economic strain. Consumers are facing eight to ten hours of load shedding, frequent faults, and poor infrastructure, leading to low and high voltage issues, burning of transformers, and extended outages disguised as maintenance. Pseudo-detection bills to cover power theft by Hesco staff have also been reported. Muhammad Farooq…

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KMC and K-Electric Partner to Collect Municipal Utility Charges and Taxes: Mayor Wahab

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KMC-KElectric

KARACHI – Mayor Karachi Barrister Murtaza Wahab announced on Sunday that a significant agreement has been reached between the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and K-Electric regarding the collection of Municipal Utility Charges and Taxes (MUCT). In accordance with a court decision, a resolution supporting the collection of these charges through K-Electric has been approved by the City Council. Mayor Wahab stated that a committee formed for this purpose conducted regular meetings, leading to the council’s approval based on the committee’s recommendations. The agreement ensures maximum relief for low-income individuals. Consumers…

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Rs600 Billion Lost Annually to Electricity Theft: Minister

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power-sector

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Sardar Owais Ahmad Laghari has revealed that electricity theft causes an annual loss of Rs600 billion to Pakistan. In an interview with Geo News programme Jirga, hosted by Saleem Safi, the minister disclosed that the country had 6,000 megawatts of surplus power on Saturday, but it was not supplied to avoid an additional Rs2.5 billion loss. “Feeders requesting electricity are not metered, and illegal transformers have been installed. Providing power to these would unfairly burden consumers with meters. The government cannot subsidize electricity theft; it…

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