Cabinet to seek nod from IMF to provide relief to power consumers,
Relief to masses in electricity bill govt’s priority: Solangi,
The federal government has decided to contact the IMF to provide relief in the electricity bills for the power consumers in Pakistan, . Caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi said in a statement on Tuesday that the caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar is taking the IMF on board regarding the relief for the power consumers. He confirmed that the caretaker finance minister is holding talks with the IMF. He added that the caretaker set up to get the IMF in confidence for making some decisions.
Solangi said that the caretaker government will make decisions regarding the electricity bills within a few hours after taking the IMF on board. Caretaker Minister or Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi on Monday said the complete focus of the government was on providing relief to the masses in electricity bills. “We are focusing on how to provide relief to the masses instead of delving into discussion that who is responsible for expensive electricity,” the minister said while talking to a private TV channel. He said the caretaker government took the oath on August 17, and the consumers received inflated bills of the month of July.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar had taken notice of inflated electricity bills, Solangi said, adding, “We are responsible caretaker government and cannot ignore the issue.” He said the issue would be taken up by the Federal Cabinet today (Tuesday) which would explore the ways to pass on relief to the public without violating the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. The minister resolved that the cabinet would decide in favour of passing on the relief to the masses. He said the prime minister held a meeting with the relevant stakeholders. The media should inform the masses about the reasons behind increase in electricity bills, he said while responding to a query. “Political temperature is already high in the country,” he said, stressing that there was no need to resort to debate that who was responsible for the inflated electricity bills.
To another query, he said the caretaker government wanted to hold peaceful and fair elections in collaboration with all political parties as per the schedule of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The assistance to the electoral watchdog would be provided by the government, he added. The ECP would decide about the tenure of the caretaker government, he said, adding the entire schedule of the delimitation exercise was uploaded on the watchdog’s website. In light of the decisions of the Council of Common Interests, he said, the ECP issued its schedule under Article 51 of the Constitution. Replying to a question, he said there was need to understand difference between peaceful and violent protests.
Earlier in the day, the federal cabinet failed to decide to provide relief on inflated electricity bills to the masses. According to sources, the meeting headed by caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar concluded without taking any decision on providing relief on inflated electricity bills. Sources said that in the federal cabinet briefing, it was discussed that the IMF agreement should be consulted on this matter as it is the main hurdle in giving relief to the masses on electricity bills. On Monday, Energy Minister Muhammad Ali met the Caretaker Prime Minister (PM) Anwaar Ul Haq Kakar in which they discussed the overall situation after the nationals received inflated electricity bills. They held consultations on options to provide relief to the power consumers.
The caretaker premier summoned another session which was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Water and Power and power distribution companies. On Sunday, Caretaker PM Anwaarul Haq Kakar gave a 48-hour deadline for the formation of a strategy amid mounting public outcry over electricity price hikes.
