Up to 124% gas price approved: The Economic Coordination Committee approved a six-month extension from January to June.
ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday cut gas prices by 124 per cent to implement the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) key condition for reaching a staff-level agreement with Pakistan. Percent increase was approved. across the board for six months from January to June.
The Department of Energy (Department of Petroleum) has presented a summary of gas sale prices for the fiscal year 2023 and tariffs as per the Estimated Revenue Assessment of Requirement (ERRR) for all consumer categories, the Finance Department statement said. Recommendations were made. ) for the tax year. Year 2022-23.
The planned six-month revision of gas pricing for the residential, commercial, and power sectors has been authorised by the ECC, according to a statement. Reforms in the energy sector and curbing cyclical debt were high on the agenda during meetings with the IMF delegation, which concluded the 10-day parliament in Islamabad last Thursday.
The IMF staff left Islamabad without the contract's signature and demanded that Pakistan make amends.
The fee for households consuming gas up to 100 cubic meters increased by 16.6% to Rs 350 per mmbtu and Rs 50 per mmbtu. For domestic consumers consuming 200 cubic meters, the fee has been increased by 32% to Rs 730 per mmbtu.
A 69% hike in tariff for gas consumers up to 300 cubic meters has been green-lighted and is now priced at Rs 1,250 per MMBTU. For domestic consumers consuming up to 400 cubic meters of gas, the fee was increased by 99 per cent to Rs 2,200 per mmbtu.
For households consuming more than 400 cubic meters of gas, the fee increased by 124 percent to Rs 3,277 per MMBTU.
After a 28.6 per cent increase, the price of gas for commercial consumers increased from Rs 1,283 per MMBTU to Rs 1,650 per MMBTU.
Gas prices for the power sector increased by 22.8 per cent to Rs 1,050 per mmbtu from Rs 857 per mmbtu. For the export industry, the rate was increased by 34% to Rs 1,100 per mmbtu.
The CNG sector will have to pay Rs 1,800 per mmbtu after the 31% hike. After the 46% hike, the fertilizer sector will get gas at Rs 1,500 per mmbtu. The cement sector pays Rs 1,500 per mmbtu after the 17.46 per cent hike in gas prices.
Rescheduling debt
Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee also authorized the Ministry of Economy to sign a debt restructuring agreement with Russia to suspend a $14.53 million Covid-related loan.
The approval came after the ministry presented a summary of the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). This debt relief was announced in April 2020 to mitigate the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on IDA eligible countries.
As part of the move, loan waivers were extended by suspending principal and interest payments. To date, 37 debt relief agreements have been signed with 15 creditor countries.
ECC has provided Rs 40 billion as technical top-up grant to the Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) to meet the budgetary requirements for increase in unconditional and conditional grants.
The Ministry of Poverty Reduction and Social Security presented a summary of improvements in the BSIP budget. He apprised the committee about the ongoing programs of BISP including "Benazir Kafalat" Unconditional Cash Transfer (UCT) programme, which covers about 9 million families, and two Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes, viz. Told about Benazir Education Wazif and Benazir Nashnoom.
Moreover, this cash relief payment of Rs.25,000 as emergency relief to the flood affected people has been provided to about 27 lakh per affected family. In the conditional cash transfer scheme, Benazir Education Wazif enrollment has been accelerated and one million more children are expected to be enrolled by the end of June 2023(Up to 124% gas price approved).
BISP has also extended CCT Benazir Nashunoma to all provinces of the country.
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