ISLAMABAD – Federal government will generate Rs 58 billion with theincrease in the Gas Prices.
Government had increased natural gas prices by up to 20 percent, PetroleumMinister Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said, in effect slashing consumersubsidies that were a fiscal drag on the government’s budget.
Sarwar said the move would help ease part of the 152 billion-rupee ($1.24billion) deficit for state-owned Sui Northern and Sui Southern, the twomain suppliers of natural gas that are bleeding cash and subsidizingconsumers and industries.
The decision was taken by the Economic Coordination Committee chaired bynew Prime Minister Imran Khan, who has vowed radical economic reforms.
“It was a tough decision for us to take,” Sarwar said, adding that theprice hike was “10 to 20 percent”, depending on how much gas the userconsumed.
The new measures would inject “58 billion rupees to stabilize the twocompanies”, Sarwar added.