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ECC OKAYS UP TO 124% GAS TARIFF HIKE TO UNLOCK IMF LOAN g
Residential consumers will pay more bills than commercial, industrial users ISLAMABAD
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SHAHZAD PARACHA
HE Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved an increase of up to 124% increase in gas prices to meet one of the prior conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Finance minister Ishaq Dar chaired the meeting of ECC. The Ministr y of Energy, Petroleum division has informed the ECC to revise gas price for residential and other categories of consumers which would generate a revenue of Rs 310 billion as against apportioned RERR for six-month Januar y to June 2023 of Rs 305 billion. Gas price for non-protective domestic consumers would be Rs400 from Rs300 upto 1hm3, Rs600 from Rs500 upto 1.5hm3, Rs 800 from Rs553 upto 2hm3, Rs1100 from Rs738 upto 3hm3, Rs2000 from Rs1107 upto 4hm3 and Rs3100 from Rs1460 above 4hm3. The proposed sales prices for commercial consumers would be Rs121 up to 0.5hm3, Rs350 from Rs300 up to1hm3, Rs730 from Rs553 up to 2hm3, Rs1250 from Rs738 up to 3hm3, Rs2250 from Rs1107 up to 4hm3 and Rs3270 from Rs1460 above 4 hm3. Sources said that the government has put more burden on residential consumers comparable to commercial or industrial consumers as there are five slabs for domestic consumers where prices have been increased by up to 124%.In addition, the gas prices for the fertilizer sector increased from 22% to 103% due to which the electricity prices would also be increased in coming months. Whereas the gas prices for Export or non-Export sectors have been increased from 10 to 34%. Petroleum division informed the ECC that OGRA issued its determination of Estimated Revenue Requirements (ERR) for FY 2022-23 on June 30, 2022 for both SNGPL and SSGC. According to the said determination, SNGPL
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ISLAMABAD According to the latest data by the State Bank of Pakistan, workers’ remittance for the month of January has dropped by 13% on a Year on Year basis. The remittance has also dropped by almost 10% on a monthly basis. The workers’ remittances were recorded at an already low 2.102 billion in December 2022. This is the lowest Pakistan’s remittances have been since the last 31 months. Ever since the dollar was kept at an artificially low rate, there was a decline in the figure for workers’ remittance. Even though Pakistan lifted that cap in the last week of January,
FIR registered despite unclear origin of conversations leaked last year, defying Supreme Court ruling ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
required a revenue of Rs.261 billion and SSGCL required a revenue of Rs.285 billion in FY 2022-23. OGRA did not allow previous years’ revenue shortfalls in the ERR of both the gas companies. Pursuant to Section 8(3) of the OGRA Ordinance 2002, Government was required to advise OGRA to revise the consumer gas prices in accordance with Government policy with effect from 1st July 2022 within 40 days of determination of OGRA. However, the revision in consumer gas prices could not be done as of date. Due to price inaction, the Sui companies have already carried the revenue shortfall for the past six months i.e., July to December 2022. G-20 DEBT SERVICE SUSPENSION INITIATIVE (DSSI): The Ministry of Economic Affairs presented a summary on G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). This debt relief was announced in April 2020 for IDA eligible countries to mitigate the socio-economic impact of Covid-19. Under this initiative debt relief was extended through the suspension of principal and interest payments. So far, 37 debt rescheduling agreements with 15 creditor countries have been signed. Foregoing in view, the ECC allowed the Ministry of Economic Affairs to sign a debt
rescheduling agreement with Russia for debt suspension of Covid related amount US$ 14.53 million. POVERTY ALLEVIATION, SOCIAL SAFETY: The Ministry of Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety presented a summary on enhancement of the BSIP budget. The meeting was briefed on the on-going BISP programmes including Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) Programme “Benazir Kafaalat” covering around 9 million families, two Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes namely Benazir Taleemi Wazaif and Benazir Nashonuma. Besides, This disbursement of cash assistance to affectees of floods as emergency relief of Rs. 25,000/- was provided per affected family to around 2.7 million families. In the Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, there has been accelerated enrolments in Benazir Taleemi Wazaif and it is anticipated that additional 1 million children will be enrolled by the end of June, 2023. Also the BISP has extended CCT Benazir Nashonuma to all the districts of the country. The ECC after discussion granted Rs. 40 billion as Technical Supplementary Grant to BISP to meet its budgetary requirements for increase in the unconditional and conditional grants.
Remittances fall by 13% to $1.89b for January SHAHNAWAZ ALI
Tarin charged with sedition for ‘sabotage attempt’ on IMF accord
data reveals that almost no impact of removing the cap was seen in January’s remittance. According to the head of equity research at Ismail Iqbal securities Fahad Rauf, “The number of remittances in January is still impressive, keeping in mind the huge gap between the black market rate and the official rate of the dollar.” He further added that any real impact in the remittances will be better observed from February onwards. The figure of workers’ remittance is also important for Pakistan because Pakistan is close to its lowest level of foreign reserves. The country has been unable to reach a staff level agreement
with the IMF, as of the time this scribe was written. Remittances, investments, and export proceeds are the main source of increasing the dollar reser ves of the countr y. Due to a deadlock on imports and a volatile exchange rate, the local industr y has majorly slowed down the import of goods. Not only that, it is believed that the proceeds of earlier exports have also not been brought in Pakistan in anticipation of the depreciation of rupee and costpush inflation. This is also the first time that the workers’ remittance for one month in Bangladesh is greater than that in Pakistan.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has charged former finance minister Shaukat Tarin with sedition, months after he was recorded in leaked audio conversations appearing to guide his provincial counterparts from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to tell the central government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the provinces would not be able to commit to a budget surplus due to the devastating effects of monsoon floods. The agency, which said it conducted a preliminary inquiry into the matter, deemed Tarin’s actions as an attempt to derail the loan programme and funds, thereby causing harm to the “national interest”. With the government’s permission, the FIA is now authorised to arrest the banker, said Rana Sanaullah Khan, the interior minister. The first information report (FIR), registered by the sub-inspector of the agency’s cybercrime wing, alleges that Tarin, with “malicious intentions and ulterior motives,” induced the sitting finance ministers of the provinces of Punjab and KP, Taimur Jhagra and Mohsin Leghari. It cites his conversations with the finance ministers, the origin of which remains unclear to this day. It, however, says the clips were thoroughly analysed. The complaint further says that Tarin asked the finance ministers to write letters stating that their respective ministries would not return the surplus budget to the federal government, which would critically affect the ongoing deals between the government and the IMF. During the inquiry, he was summoned and questioned about the alleged clips, but he failed to provide satisfactory answers, implying that he was hiding facts and lying about his intentions and motives. The FIR argues that Tarin’s actions could disrupt public tranquillity, create ill-will among pillars of the state, and cause fear, alarm, and intimidation among citizens due to the economic situation of Pakistan, making it an act of sedition against the state. The case has been registered under Section 20 (Malicious code) of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), 2016, and sections 124-A (Sedition) and 505 (Statements conducting to public mischief) of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC). Interestingly, the Supreme Court has previously ruled that audio and video evidence is not considered admissible until the individual who recorded it appears in court with the device and the original recording, or becomes a plaintiff. It remains unclear if the original plaintiff, rumoured to be the intelligence wing of the military, has filed with the agency or if the statement was recorded. The question of who recorded the phone call, which is the subject of the audio leak case, will need to be determined during the trial if the case proceeds, noted journalist Saqib Bashir.
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