PTI blames the PML-N government for the increase in the circular debt in the electricity sector

ISLAMABAD – The Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Monday accused the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz opposition in the Senate of increasing circular debt in the electricity sector, saying that the previous regime had posed "threats". explosive mines to destroy the country's economy. "

Federal Minister of Energy Omar Ayub Khan said that the last PML-N government had granted undue subsidies in the energy sector only for political reasons before concluding general election which resulted the rise of circular debt to a dangerous level.

"It was only in one year that circular debt only increased to Rs.450 billion when the PML-N government decided not to increase the tariff electricity for two years before the 2018 general elections, "said the minister, adding that the ruling party of the time also left a circular debt of Rs 250 billion in the gas sector.

He said the previous regime subsidized 115 billion rupees in its last year to the government alone in the electricity sector which had no mention in the budget books.

The minister said that the circular debt under the PML-N government had increased at the rate of Rs 39 billion per month, which is now reduced to Rs 14-15 billion per month. He said the government had recorded a record increase in revenues of 120 billion rupees.

He said that under the expensive energy agreements, the PML-N scheme was set at the unit cost of electricity at 17.5 rupees, while the renewable energy projects had were denied by the then cabinet committee on energy which was supposed to generate around 4,000 megawatts of electricity at a rate of rupees. 6.5 per unit only.

The Minister of Energy said the PTI government now plans to produce 80% of the electricity from domestic resources, as currently 70% of the electricity is produced using imported fuel.

He said that when the outgoing government came to power, the system only had the capacity to transport 18,000 MW, which has now been upgraded to transport up to 27,000 MW.

The minister dismissed criticism from some opposition lawmakers that the PTI government is imposing a high levy on petroleum products and has not passed on the impact of lower international oil prices to consumers. The last PML-N government had levied 47 percent sales tax and petroleum development tax on petroleum products when international oil prices were historically low, he said.

Speaking on occasion, the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Hammad Azhar, said that the latest regime should admit that it had committed "economic blunders". He said foreign exchange reserves were declining at the rate of $ 500 million a month during their reign.

He said that this government had to make tough decisions to avoid the economic collapse and that now the economy had stabilized.

Azhar said the inflation rate fell from 14.6% to 12.4%.

He said Pakistan was placed on the FATF gray list when the PML-N was in power. He blamed the latest regime for only working on two of the 27 international anti-money laundering monitoring recommendations to be implemented to get out of the gray list. He said that now all but two of his recommendations have been fully or partially met.

Before that, former Senate Speaker and PPP senator Raza Rabbani told the House that the Prime Minister's advisor for finance and income, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, used to prevail over Prime Minister Imran Khan for matters of national economy.

"Let it be" Prime Minister-elect Imran Khan and the elected Cabinet lead this country or do we have a third unelected de facto advisor who, with the support of the international financial imperialists, leads this country, "he said. , adding, that this is a question that needs to be answered.

Rabbani pointed out that the government has not passed on to consumers the full benefit of falling oil prices on the international market. The Prime Minister had advised to pass the benefit on to consumers fully, but the adviser prevailed over PM and said that consumers should receive less relief in order to make up the shortfall, a- he declared.

Likewise, the Prime Minister recently decided to freeze an increase in the prices of the electricity sector but it has now appeared that the government had agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise prices in the sector energy in the coming months, he added.

Rabbani said that the adviser who was part of all negotiations with the IMF used to prevail over the Prime Minister and refused to come home to answer questions about it.

Citing certain media reports, the PPP legislator drew the attention of the House that the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) during a meeting had asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to declare a national energy emergency in the country to reduce circular debt by 1.93 trillion rupees.