Govt power relief package to make Pakistan industry globally competitive: Azhar

The newly announced government’s energy relief package will make Pakistan’s industry competitive in the world markets, stated Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar.

The statement comes after Prime Minister Imran Khan unveiled on Tuesday a relief package of the electricity tariff for small and medium industries (SMEs), under which the small and medium industries using additional power will be provided electricity at 50% of the rate till June next year from this month onwards.

Addressing the press conference, the federal minister said that it has been the current government's consistent resolve to reduce the cost of production in Pakistan. He said the package will make Pakistan's industry competitive in the world market.

Highlighting the global impact of COVID-19 the minister maintained that Pakistan's growth rate is in the positive domain when it is negative 4 percent the world over.

Meanwhile, Minister for Power Division Omar Ayub informed that the government has formulated a plan to improve the energy mix. Ayub said 70 percent of Pakistan's electricity was being produced on imported fuel.

Whereas, the government intends to comprise 30pc of the country's energy mix with renewable energy by 2030. It also plans to generate 70 to 80pc of electricity through its own resources, including solar, wind, coal, and hydel.

Briefing on the economic indicators, Finance Advisor Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said the economy of the country is now stable due to initiatives taken by the government. He said the government has managed to decrease the expenditures of civil and military institutions while several packages for SMEs were announced to boost economic activities in the country.

Shaikh told that over Rs 1 trillion has been collected in taxes during the last four months, whereas the construction industry was also given a 90pc tax exemption.

He said trade deficit declined to nil from Rs 120 billion while the allocation for Ehsaas program has been increased from Rs 100 to 192bn. He said repayment of 5,000 billion rupees was also made while the government did not take any loan from June to November this year.