Dar shocks gas consumers with big hikes

[epebble]

Embrace yourselves. This is not even the tip of the iceberg. What IMF is about to impose through PDM would crush the poor man.

Government should try to isolate poor people from imported commodities shock. Imported commodities will be going through very high inflation. People should try to switch to alternate fuels like coal or agricultural waste that are not imported.

 

[PakFactor]

Notice how the Pakistani mainstream media is silent on the economic mismanagement of the Sharif family.

It's a pin drop in a silent room, meaning you'll hear nothing important.

Let's say your car has a brake problem and you give it to a neighboring mistry to fix it. Mistry takes your money but does f'all. You pick up the car and drive to work but meet accident on the way because of brake failure. Car gets fixed due to insurance but two years later, break problem arises again. You take the car to same mistry.

Below is a story from Dawn from exactly twenty years back:

DAWN WIRE SERVICE : 14 February 1998 Issue : 04/07

asianstudies.github.io

IMF to suggest increase in utility charges
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Ikram Hoti

ISLAMABAD Feb 9: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has started
the first round of scanning the record of government receipts from
public utility services. The IMF has undertaken the study to
assessing the potential exercised during the first half of financial
year 1997-98, and to suggest the volume of increase in utility
service charges in Pakistan during the current fiscal....
------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the the twenty five years, world has changed beyond recognition. I did not even have an email address back then even though I was a recent graduate out of leading state university in the US. At best, only few thousand people had access to internet in Pakistan back then. I remember getting internet access around that time in Karachi through cybernet through 14.4 kb/s modem. Access cost around PKR 100/hour and I logged on may be for an hour a day.

Twenty five years ago Pakistan's total exports amounted to around USD10bn p.a. while Vietnam exported goods worth around USD 12bn p.a. Today, Pakistan's exports stand at around USD 25-27bn while Vietnam exports goods worth around USD 340 bn.

I have been aware of Sharifs since I was a little boy who used to play maarun peetee during break time. Sharifs have controlled Punjab pretty for around 30 of the last 40 years. Yet English the media describes Shebaz Sharif as an efficient administrator who gets work done at Shebaz speed.

Even without the internet or 24/7 news channels, I could tell even back then that ruling class and their western enablers were making chutiyas out of Pakistanis. I cut my losses and beat a hasty retreat out of Pak. World was different back then so there were lots of opportunities for people like myself. But only skill that will be suitable for younger generation now is guerilla warfare.

My family cut their losses in 1989, packed up, and left for the U.S. By far, the best move we've made and been successful in our business. I don't think we'd be as successful if we stayed back in the hellhole of Pakistan.

If you don't mind me asking, what you studied in the states?

 

[Dalit]

Government should try to isolate poor people from imported commodities shock. Imported commodities will be going through very high inflation. People should try to switch to alternate fuels like coal or agricultural waste that are not imported.

Here comes another problem. Even during PTI rule the previous government tried to curb imports. From what I understood, external forces weren't happy with the move.

The poor cannot afford domestic commodities. Imported commodities are out of the question. I spoke to a relative yesterday who works at WAPDA and he was oblivious that IMF is about to unleash new tougher conditions etc. According to the relative the people were already suffering immensely under the current situation.

 

[epebble]

The poor cannot afford domestic commodities

Pakistan has plenty of coal. With relatively easy to setup distribution system, households can be weaned from imported gas to coal. Also, with large agricultural base, it is not very difficult to use agricultural waste and waste wood. It is not that far back that households were using fuels like wood and coal. Even commercial kitchens like restaurants and institutions can switch to domestically sourced fuels to pave the way.

 

[SoulSpokesman]

@epebble

It will be disastrous to use biomass as it is as fuel. A better thing is to biomethanate it into compressed biogas or CBG and distribute it similar to LPG.

Regards

 

[epebble]

It will be disastrous to use biomass as it is as fuel.

Why? We lose 8 million acres of forest every year to forest fires just in U.S. That is 2,000 kilograms of wood per acre. Name of the game is reforestation. Harvest old trees and plant young trees.

 

[-=virus=-]

its ok, a bit of marhampatti, some operation/stitches, controlled diet, few jabs, bitter pill or two.. all part of getting healthy again.

 

[alimobin memon]

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Monday increased natural gas prices in the range of 16 per cent to 112.32pc with retrospective effect from Jan 1 for six months in a bid to raise an additional Rs310 billion from the majority of domestic and all other categories of consumers to secure early disbursement of $1.2 billion tranche.

The ECC meeting chaired by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar also introduced the concept of protected consumers for a period of four months —November to February — whose average per month consumption will be below 0.9 hm3 (90 units). Four slabs for protected and six slabs for non-protected consumers were also introduced.

The minimum slab for residential consumers before the increase was 50 units per month (0.5 hm3), which under the new price mechanism was reduced to 25 units. This means consumers with low consumption would be hit under the new price mechanism to collect maximum revenue from the bulk of domestic users.

A fixed rate of Rs50 per month from protected consumers and Rs500 from non-protected consumers will be collected in addition to the increase in gas prices. The fixed-rate collection, according to the government, is justified to reduce the impact of higher bills due to increased gas consumption in winter.



Former Prime Minister Shahid Haqqan Abbasi also attended the ECC meeting along with other regular ministers. Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar, Power Minister Khurram Dastgir and Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghous Pasha among others attended the meeting.

The hike in gas tariff for industries, a major source of electricity generation, will push up the cost of production. The industrial sector will then pass on this increase to end-consumers. As a result, inflation will further increase in the months to come.

The government has also increased gas prices for K-Electric, Sindh Noordiabad and Engro Powergen Qadirpur at a rate of 22.5pc to Rs1,050 from Rs1,187 per mmBtu, while an increase of 103.72pc to Rs2,406 from Rs1,181 was made for Liberty Power and 19.65pc to Rs140 from Rs117 per mmBtu was made for Engro Fertiliser Ltd. The gas rate for cement sector was increased by 17.46pc to Rs1,500 from Rs1,023.

On Jan 10, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) has already allowed two gas companies — Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Ltd (SSGCL) — to hike their prices by 74.42pc and 75.35pc, respectively. However, it was subject to the approval of the ECC.

BISP

The ECC approved Rs40bn as a technical supplementary grant to Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to meet its budgetary requirements for an increase in the unconditional and conditional grants.

Of these, an amount of Rs12bn for Benazir Kafaalat—unconditional cash transfer covering 9 million families while another Rs22bn for disbursement of cash assistance to affectees of floods as emergency relief.

Another Rs3.720bn will be disbursed for Benazir Taleemi Wazaif, Rs1.880bn for the nutritional programme and Rs400m for the direct cost of cash transfer.

Debt rescheduling

The ECC allowed the secretary Economic Affairs Division to sign a debt rescheduling agreement for $14.53 million with Russia -- $11.73m (principal) and $2.80m (interest). This debt relief was announced in April 2020 for IDA-eligible countries to mitigate the socioeconomic impact of Covid-19.

So far, 37 debt suspension agreements with 15 creditor countries have been signed.

Published in Dawn, February 14th, 2023
----

Dar shocks gas consumers with big hikes

New tariffs will be effective from Jan 1.

www.dawn.com

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Meanwhile 'neutrals' are busy in fooling awaam with such songs and slogan:

Hum Zinda Qaum Hain
Painda Qaum Hain
Hum Sub Ki Hai Pehchaan
Hum Sub Ka Nahi, sirf neutrals ka Pakistan, Pakistan,Pakistan

What is protected vs unprotected ?

 

[Baburfromsarmarkand]

Why? We lose 8 million acres of forest every year to forest fires just in U.S. That is 2,000 kilograms of wood per acre. Name of the game is reforestation. Harvest old trees and plant young trees.

Planting new trees creates a mono culture, u loose the natural diversity of the forest that was destroyed

 

[epebble]

Planting new trees creates a mono culture, u loose the natural diversity of the forest that was destroyed

You can plant different species of trees. Why should reforestation become monoculture? Convert 'living fossil' into economic engine. If you don't harvest old trees, they will die due to disease, insects, lightning or forest fire. That is what we discovered in Western U.S. after decades of tree hugging. Trees are living organisms; if you don't harvest them, nature will take its course and recycle the carbon and nitrogen the way it does. By putrefaction.

 

[lightning F57]

No wonder "they" are trying to create a new political party, PDM is self exploding.

 

[SaadH]

It's a pin drop in a silent room, meaning you'll hear nothing important.



My family cut their losses in 1989, packed up, and left for the U.S. By far, the best move we've made and been successful in our business. I don't think we'd be as successful if we stayed back in the hellhole of Pakistan.

If you don't mind me asking, what you studied in the states?

We did the exact same thing in '89.

 

[Burger_King]

It's a pin drop in a silent room, meaning you'll hear nothing important.



My family cut their losses in 1989, packed up, and left for the U.S. By far, the best move we've made and been successful in our business. I don't think we'd be as successful if we stayed back in the hellhole of Pakistan.

If you don't mind me asking, what you studied in the states?

I got a BA in Economics after which I went back to Karachi. I went back to the States after few years to get MBA.

My family, which was based in Karachi, was poor by American standards and they could afford expenses for one year only. I had to beg, borrow, steal and work my *** off to complete my education. The work experience I gained while studying was, in some ways, more valuable than in-class education. I was also helped at each step by the support and encouragement I received from my esteemed professors and by my American co-workers who bent and ignored the rules and allowed me to work the hours I needed to support my education. Presence of Pakistani community was a huge resource as well.

My first cousin had a contrasting experience in Karachi. Her family had to return to Karachi from Oman due to medical emergency. My cousin got into medical university but had to sit out for a year because she had missed the deadline to take Pak studies and Islamiat exam by ten days and university would not give her provisional admission until should take the test which would have taken place few months later.

We can blame leaders for a lot of problems but some of the pain is self inflicted.

 

[ghazi52]

.,.,