ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said the government had shielded the public from the impact of higher electricity prices and that the fuel subsidy would remain in place until December.
Speaking at a federal cabinet meeting, the prime minister said Pakistan’s sincere efforts for regional peace and stability were continuing. He noted that Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir had travelled to Iran, and that Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye had also held a meeting with the Iranian leadership in Tehran. He described the discussions there as very cordial and positive.
The prime minister said soaring global oil prices were a major driver of instability in the region, but the government had not let the cost of expensive energy burden ordinary citizens.
He said the fuel subsidy scheme, launched to provide relief, had already directly benefited more than 15 million people. Rs28 billion had been released for the programme, which will continue until the end of December. A Rs15 per litre rise in petrol prices, he added, had likewise not been passed on to consumers.
PM Shehbaz said the petroleum minister and his team had held important discussions with refineries, and that petrol pumps failing to cooperate with the subsidy scheme would face action.
Declaring that the era of the “LNG mafia” had ended, he said business was now being conducted through competition and transparency, with state-owned companies such as PSO and PARCO handling operations and a mechanism also set up for LPG. With winter approaching, he said, measures were under way to secure supplies of LNG, LPG and oil to meet households’ energy needs.
The prime minister also announced approval of a Rs160 billion development package for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying restoring peace in the province was the government’s top priority and that it was determined to rid the country of terrorism. He said the people of the province had made countless sacrifices in the fight against terrorism, and that although the country had been rid of terrorism in 2018, the menace had regrettably returned.
He also congratulated Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on taking over the chairmanship of the G24.
