Ishaq Dar announces to provide subsidized electricity to country’s exporters at Rs 19.89 per unit
ISLAMABAD, Oct 06 (SABAH): The government has announced to provide subsidized electricity to country’s exporters at 19.89 rupees per unit.
This was stated by Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar while addressing media in Islamabad on Thursday after talks with the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association (PTEA) in Islamabad. The Minister said all distribution companies will provide electricity to the exporter community on these rates and the difference between original prices and subsidized rates will be covered by the Finance Ministry.
The Minister said our government under the leadership of Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif is doing its best for assisting business community and farmers to put country’s economy on the right track.
He urged the business community to enhance Pakistan’s exports for country’s betterment. He said Pakistan’s external account problems can only be resolved through improving export sector.
The Minister said we are also making efforts to bring back rupee at its original value which is less than 200 rupees against a dollar.
He termed the demand for energy subsidies “just” and promised that the government would bear the difference between the new fixed price and the actual per unit production cost. “I expect the industries to now increase Pakistan’s exports.”
Ishaq Dar said the annual burden of the subsidy would amount to around Rs90-100 billion, adding that the “all-inclusive” package was announced for the five major exporting sectors, and not just the textile sector.
He denied that the subsidy would have any impact on the primary or budget deficit, assuring that “everything will be taken care of”.
Meanwhile, in response to a question on whether the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was taken into confidence on the package, the finance minister said: “I don’t need to take [the IMF] into confidence […] when I know what I am doing then it is my responsibility to create [fiscal] space for it and I have done so.”
Ishaq Dar added that he believed in taking “prudent decisions” and had a source of funds available for the package. “[I will explain it myself] when talks are held with them [IMF delegation] and when they arrive on October 25,” he added.
The finance minister also addressed the continuous depreciation of the US dollar against the rupee, saying that the development occurred without him even doing anything. “I want to clarify that I can genuinely prove that its (dollar) actual value is below Rs200.” He said the market was now going in the “right direction” and correcting itself.
Ishaq Dar added that Thursday’s rupee appreciation brought a reduction of around Rs2,600bn in public debt and liabilities without “giving back even a single rupee”.