ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif said on Wednesday that the burden of increased electricity prices had not been passed on to the public and that the fuel subsidy would continue until December.
Addressing a meeting of the federal cabinet, the prime minister said Pakistan's sincere efforts for peace and stability were continuing. He said Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir had visited Iran, while a meeting of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Türkiye was also held in Tehran with the Iranian leadership. He described the talks in Tehran as taking place in a very cordial and positive atmosphere.
The prime minister said global oil prices were skyrocketing and that rising oil prices were a major cause of unrest in the region. However, he said the government had not allowed the burden of higher energy prices to fall on the common man.
He said a fuel subsidy scheme had been launched to provide relief, from which more than 15 million people had directly benefited. Rs28 billion had been released for the scheme, which would run until the end of December. He added that the burden of a Rs15 per litre increase in petrol prices had also not been passed on to the public.
PM Shehbaz said the petroleum minister and his team had held important talks with refineries, and that action would be taken against petrol pumps that did not cooperate with the fuel subsidy scheme.
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He said the era of the "LNG mafia" was over and that matters were now being handled with competition and transparency. Affairs were being run through state-owned entities such as PSO and PARCO, while a system had also been put in place for LPG. With winter approaching, he said, steps were under way to ensure the supply of LNG, LPG and oil so that the public's energy needs could be met during the season.
The prime minister announced the approval of a Rs160 billion development package for peace and development in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, saying restoring peace in the province was the government's top priority and that the government was committed to eliminating terrorism from the country. He said the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had made countless sacrifices in the fight against terrorism, and that terrorism had been eliminated from the country in 2018 but, unfortunately, had resurfaced.
The prime minister also congratulated Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on assuming the chairmanship of the G24.