Cabinet Approves 67% Increase in Gas Prices for Residential Users

The federal cabinet has approved an increase in gas prices for residential users by a whopping 67 percent.

The decision was made during a meeting of the federal cabinet on Thursday presided over by the caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar.

The approval for the hike was given to meet the conditions of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under the Stand-by Agreement (SBA). The approval means that gas prices for fertilizer plants will also soar by 700 percent as the government has withdrawn subsidies of Rs. 50 billion given to few fertilizers plants.

The decision would take effect from February 1 and the new bills would be issued with revised rates, according toa notification issued by Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) after the cabinet meeting.

It is pertinent to mention here tha this is second increase in gas prices under the caretaker government, as gas prices were earlier increased by up to 1100 percent.

The cabinet also approved the appointment of Syed Tariq Muhammad ul Hassan as Managing Director Pakistan Baitul Mal. The decision was taken on the recommendation of ministry of poverty alleviation and social security, according to a press release issued by the Prime Minister House Media Wing.

On the recommendation of the Ministry of Commerce, the cabinet approved the transit/transfer of vehicle spare parts and new tires used by the Afghanistan Country Office under the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) from Karachi Port to Kabul, Afghanistan.

The cabinet, on the recommendation of the finance ministry approved the exemption of JS Bank’s sponsoring shareholder Shabbir Ahmed Randiri from Section (IV)(1)14 of the Banking Companies Ordinance. Under this exemption, Shabbir Ahmed will be able to exercise his voting rights in JS Bank Limited as a 7.06 percent sponsoring shareholder.

The cabinet gave its assent to the decisions made in a meeting of federal cabinet on energy on February 6. Besides it also approved the decisions of cabinet committees on legislative cases and privatization held on February 7. The meeting also approved the decisions made in the Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet on February 7, and February 14, that included the decision regarding an increase in gas prices.