Former Vice President of FPCCI Atif Ikram Sheikh on Sunday said high electricity and fuel prices have become a threat to the masses and the country’s economy.
The increasing price of energy is eating away purchasing power of the masses and hitting the productive sector, he said.
Atif Ikram Sheikh who has also served as Chairman PVMA said in a statement that the government is providing relief to the masses which is insufficient and marred with mismanagement.
He added that the government should expedite the exploration of oil and gas in the country by giving incentives to investors while focusing on the key sectors of nuclear energy and green energy so that people can get affordable energy.
At present an average of 10 billion units of electricity are being generated monthly, most of which is being generated from imported fuel therefore it is costly.
The shortage of gas has halved the supply of gas to the industrial sector and has also reduced the production of captive power plants, he informed.
Dependence on imported fuel is on the rise as dams are running low on water which has affected the production of electricity from cheap sources.
The production of electricity from furnace oil and diesel has increased a lot, which is causing huge financial losses to the government, he said adding that the demand for electricity is increasing which will also increase the losses and circular debt.
Atif Ikram said that clean and green energy is being given priority over all other sources of electricity generation in the world but the red tape in Pakistan has become a major obstacle in this regard.
Authorities have claimed to increase the use of solar energy but at the same time imposed heavy taxes on it which harmed the development of the sector and drastically reduced the trend of installing solar panels.
