ISLAMABAD
\nThe All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has strongly criticized the recent gas price hike approved by the federal cabinet by 26 percent to put additional burden of at least Rs850 billion on the industry, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and could further stifle economic growth due to increased production costs;
\nThe APBF president Syed Maaz Mahmood has called for a review of the price adjustment mechanism to mitigate the impact on businesses, as he believed the gas price hike will disproportionately affect SMEs, leading to potential closures and job losses due to increased operational costs. He said that the price increase is seen as a major hurdle for industrial growth, further exacerbating existing economic challenges like inflation and low export volumes.
\nAPBF Chairman Ibrahim Qureshi urged the government to re-evaluate the gas pricing mechanism to ensure a more balanced approach that considers the needs of the industrial sector. Ibrahim Qureshi said that the gas tariff hike has threatened the industrial sector, besides increasing unemployment.
\nThe Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has decided to approve upward revision in gas tariff for industry captive power plants from 3000 rupees per MMBTU to 3500 rupees per MMBTU to ensure required revenue for the gas sector during Fiscal-year2024-25. The Economic Coordination Committee also instructed the Petroleum Division to take necessary measures for the imposition of a grid transition levy on the captive power plants to enhance the energy sector efficiency.
\nThe committee met to discuss a summary submitted by the Petroleum Division for an upward revision of the indigenous gas tariff for industry (captive power) as well as non-protected domestic slabs. The Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) requested the federal government to increase gas rates by up to 26 percent to generate about Rs. 847.33 billion during the current fiscal year. Under the new tariff structure, the average gas price has been set at Rs. 1,762.51 per MMBTU for Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), and Rs1,778.35 per MMBTU for Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD The All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) has strongly criticized the recent gas price hike approved by the federal cabinet by 26 percent to put additional burden of at least Rs850 billion on the industry, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and could further stifle economic growth due to increased production costs; The APBF president […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366181,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-459049","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n