ISLAMABAD, Sep 1(ABC): Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday announced an exemption from fuel cost adjustment charges for consumers using less than 300 units of electricity per month.
The previous exemption that was allowed last month on August 23 was for consumers of 200 units of electricity. “I believe an increase of 100 units will make a difference in inflationary times,” the prime minister said.
Addressing a seminar in Islamabad, the premier requested Finance Minister Miftah Ismail to exempt electricity bills for households in flooded areas of the country.
He cited how a bureaucrat sitting inside the Prime Minister House during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman’s tenure advised Imran to raise oil prices before his government was ousted.
Lambasting the Imran Khan-led government for not abiding by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement, PM Shehbaz explained why the coalition government had to raise oil prices despite a significant reduction in world prices.
The PM said he was quite worried regarding increasing the oil prices again that would hurt the public’s sentiment. “We calculated everything carefully, and the Rs2 increase is the least increase I could manage.”
“He (Imran) does not have any brains (a blessing from God) and that is why he approved the reduction in oil prices,” the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) president said.
The prime minister said he couldn’t fathom how Imran instructed the former finance minister to convince the Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa to declare that a provincial surplus will not be possible in a bid to sabotage the IMF program.
“He (Imran) had a free hand, and he destroyed the country to the core,” Premier Shehbaz said. “Imran used to spend time discussing what should be done to Maryam Nawaz, myself, Rana Sanaullah and Khawaja Saad Rafique in jail.”
PM Shehbaz said Imran used to pass messages to make Maryam sleep on the jail’s floor. “He even gave a tough time to Asif Zardari’s sister, Faryal Talpur.”
He added that the PTI chief deliberately did not purchase wheat at a cheaper rate.
Commenting on the flood situation throughout the country, the prime minister expressed how devastated he was because of the lives lost, and the damage inflicted.
He thanked the international community and brotherly countries for lending assistance to Pakistan.
“If we want to stand on our own feet, then this has to be our last IMF program,” the PM said, adding that “We have to ask IMF even before sneezing now.”
The PML-N president also cited how a go-ahead was given for the early execution of 10,000 megawatts solar energy project to reduce the import bill of costly diesel and furnace oil.
Earlier, the prime minister had chaired a meeting to provide major relief to the masses. He said electricity should be generated through solar instead of imported fuel.
“The decision has been taken to save the foreign exchange, as it would help the country save billions of dollars.”