ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Finance Minister on Tuesday said that the two Chinese who were killed in Karachi were part of the team “renegotiating terms for Independent Power Producers (IPPs).”
In a pre-recorded statement, he said that those killed were the IPP engineers with whom Energy Minister Awais Leghari and he were negotiating “terms of our request to re-profile our debt and extend maturities, so that we can reduce power tariff and provide relief to the public.”
Pakistan has been trying to get five years’ extension in repayment of its about $16 billion energy debt.
Aurangzeb said the dead engineers represented those Chinese IPPs who agreed to resolve the crisis by creating “a win-win situation for China and Pakistan”.
He condoled with the bereaved families of Chinese engineers killed in the attack on Sunday night.
PTI PROTESTS CAUSE HUGE LOSS
Finance Minister Aurangzeb criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and claimed that the strikes caused Rs190 billion per day loss to the economy.
The business activities remained suspended for three to four days as a result of which economy sustained Rs570 billion to Rs760 billion losses, he added.
Senator Aurangzeb estimated that in Islamabad alone, 800,000 people were affected due to business closure.
However, he did not mention how much damage to the economy was done due to suspension of internet servicies, closure of roads from Azad Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to the capital on the orders of the federal interior ministry.
He urged the people to refrain from participating in activity which affected Pakistan’s economy. He expressed the government’s resolve to consolidate economy.