ISLAMABAD: The federal government has sanctioned the increase in gas prices, which will be applicable from November 1, said the Ministry of Energy, here on Monday.
The hike in gas prices was done as per the summary of OGRA, the ministry added.
The cabinet on October 23 had approved the summary for the increase in gas prices, it explained.
The Federal Cabinet today sent the summary back to the ECC, said the ministry.
The cabinet on October 23 had approved the summary for the increase in gas prices, it explained.
The Federal Cabinet today sent the summary back to the ECC, said the ministry.
The Economic Coordination Committee re-approved the gas prices in today’s meeting, it said, adding gas reserves in the country are decreasing by 5 to 10 percent annually, the ministry observed.
Adding imported gas is increasing the financial burden on the national exchequer, said the Ministry of Energy, adding depreciation of rupee has increased expenditure on exploration, production and distribution of gas, Ministry of Energy.
Recurrent debt reaches 2.1 trillion due to non-increase in gas prices, explained the ministry.
The Economic Coordination Committee(ECC) decided to drop gas bombs on the public as the summary of the price increase was approved.
According to the details, a meeting of the ECC was held under the chairmanship of caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, in which the Economic Coordination Committee approved the summary of the increase in gas prices.
Sources said that the increase has put an additional burden of Rs 395 billion on the gas consumers while an increase of almost 200 percent in the gas tariff has been approved.
It has been decided to increase the price of gas up to 172 percent for domestic consumers. For various other categories gas has been approved to be hiked up to around 200 percent.
Sources said fixed monthly charges for the protected consumers will be increased from Rs10 to Rs400, while the tariff for the import industry is likely to be jacked up to Rs2050 from Rs950. The gas price for CNG is proposed to increase by Rs2595 rupees per MMBTU.
