Islamabad

The Pakistan caretaker government, on Monday, granted approval for a substantial gas price hike of up to 193 per cent, aimed at recovering an additional Pakistan Rupee (PKR) 350 billion from consumers to bail out struggling gas companies.

However, the proposal to completely abolish subsidies for the wealthiest exporters and industrialists was rejected, source reported.  For domestic consumers, gas prices are set to surge by up to 172 per cent, with commercial consumers facing a 137 per cent increase, while cement manufacturers will experience a staggering 193 per cent hike starting  November 1.  

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet sanctioned these gas price increases for domestic, commercial, and compressed natural gas (CNG) users. Additionally, tariffs for cement manufacturers were raised, according to source.

The ECC also approved the import of 1 million metric tons of wheat and 2,00,000 metric tons of urea to meet the country’s needs, with the wheat import alone estimated to cost over USD 250 million at existing international market rates.

Chaired by Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, the ECC meeting endorsed a summary from the Petroleum Division for the gas price increase, which will now be presented to the federal cabinet for formal approval.

The ECC approved the summary of the Petroleum Division for an increase in gas prices, said Energy Minister Mohammad Ali.