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Businessmen protest against further hike in power tariff

ISLAMABAD: The business community on Tuesday strongly protested against proposed 12 percent hike in power tariff and 26 percent increase in natural gas tariff from January 2010 as it would kill the industry and put unbearable burden on the common man. President Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI), Zahid Maqbool called upon the Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin to take business community on board before considering any increase in power tariff as resorting to short cuts would cripple the business activities in the country. He suggested that other viable options could be explored with mutual efforts to improve country’s revenue generation capacity. He also took strong exception to the recommendation of Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra), Tuqeer Sadiq to increase natural gas tariff by 26 percent from first January 2010 and said it would have a detrimental impact on industrial sector apart from adding to the miseries of consumers who are already overburdened. The ICCI chief said dollar has depreciated in the international market, oil prices have stabilized, interest rate and inflation have come down and in wake of these indicators, there is no justification to increase the gas tariff. He also criticized government’s approach of taking unilateral decisions on matters which directly affect businessmen, and stressed that government should consult all stakeholders for developing consensus on key decisions. He said utility tariffs in Pakistan were already one of the highest in the region, putting the country at a great disadvantage in exports against its regional competitors while the proposed electricity and gas tariff hike would almost push Pakistan out of competition. He said the recent Trade Policy had targeted 6 percent growth in exports while the last four months trading trend has shown 9 percent fall in exports. He questioned how the government would achieve export targets by making power more costly, which was a key input in production activities. The ICCI president said business sector in Pakistan is already in hot waters due to multiple factors including security issues, energy crisis, high interest rates, squeezing credit facilities and dwindling exports while further increase in power tariff would add fire to the fuel endangering the survival of trade and industry in the country. He stressed upon the government to work out long-term plans for energy solution and revenue generation. staff report

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