Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, the caretaker prime minister, reportedly told News on Thursday that the government would reveal a relief plan for electricity bills in the following 48 hours.
Electricity bills relief announced in 48 hours: The premier made the comment during a meeting with prominent media figures held in the Prime Minister’s Office.
The most recent announcement comes after at least two high-level meetings to discuss possible relief measures, during which Prime Minister Kakar charged the finance and energy ministries with creating a strategy to reduce the general public’s exorbitant electricity rates.
Nationwide protests against the July electricity price hike began last week and are still going on today.
Earlier, interim Finance Minister Dr. Shamshad Akhtar stated that the caretaker government does not have the fiscal space for subsidies but added that the proposal to withdraw electricity to the privileged was under consideration at the Senate Standing Committee on Finance meeting presided over by Senator Saleem Mandviwalla.
She asserted that contrary to popular belief, carers actually have a limited range of options and only have a set amount of time to devote to their jobs.
She claimed that because of an arrangement the former administration had with the IMF, the caretaker administration is powerless to change this.
Following the committee meeting, Akhtar spoke to the media and remarked that while the caretaker administration would focus on the well-being of the public, they couldn’t make abrupt changes to long-standing policies. She mentioned that they had persuaded the IMF officials about the current government’s commitment to the agreement established by the outgoing administration. She further added that all the commitments the previous administration had made to the IMF would be upheld by them.
The minister continued, “My top focus is the nation’s economy.