Pakistan government has announced a power subsidy of Rs100 billion to five export-oriented sectors for providing electricity at Rs19.99 per unit (all inclusive) rather than nine cents.
This was announced by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar at a news conference along with representatives of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association (APTMA) after a meeting on Thursday.
It may be noted that there were reports of mills’ closure due to unaffordable electricity tariff from Faisalabad and other textile hubs in the country, which was followed by an invitation from the federal government for a meeting.
The finance minister said that the provision of electricity at a subsidised price till June 2023 would cost Rs100 billion to the government on account of cost differential. The finance minister said that in 2017, the then government had decided to provide an incentive package of Rs180 billion to the export-oriented sector after they promised to increase their exports by 10 percent.
Subsequently, another Rs67 billion was provided to them and as a result of the Rs247 billion package targeted subsidy contributed to 12.
7 percent increase in exports.
However, he said that that was not followed by the subsequent government. He said that the exports increase by 15 to 20 percent would solve the problem of external account and the country would not be taking external loans.
