Prices of the petroleum products will not be reduced as the government is already paying Rs 1 billion as subsidy per day on their purchase, said Muhammad Ajaz Virk, Parliamentary Secretary for Petroleum and Natural Resources while responding to a question in the Lower House here on Friday.
He said that the oil prices have been fluctuating since 2004 and in 2008, it touched a record level of $140 per barrel. "The oil prices at international level have now been reduced to $105 per barrel but the government is not in a position to reduce the prices of petrol and diesel due to certain economic issues," he said.
"We are providing subsidy on petroleum products by not passing the full impact of International Market Price increase to consumers. Currently the government is subsidising High Speed Diesel (HSD) at the rate of Rs 19.63 per litre and kerosene at Rs 18.47 per litre," he added.
Virk told the House that the monthly subsidy on Sui gas provided to consumers during 2007-08 was Rs 3186 million while the estimated subsidy for 2008-09 would be Rs 4408 million per month. "The total subsidy given by the government on Hi-Octane Blending Component (HOBC) during the last fiscal year was Rs 3.025 million." he said. Virk said that during past three years 36 oil and gas discoveries were made in the country.
Recounting the steps taken for enhancing exploration activities, Virk said that 124 oil and gas exploration licenses have been granted in Pakistan. He said that new petroleum policy 2007 has been promulgated with the objective to make it more competitive and attractive.
In response to a question, he said that the Phase I-B of the feasibility study on Gasification of the Thar Coal is in process and its completion is anticipated in the first quarter of 2008-09. Its total estimated cost is about Rs 16 million while the cost of the project is Rs 126 million. The government has started a Basin study to evaluate the hydrocarbon potential of different sedimentary basins of the country for further enhancing the interest of potential investors.
He said that there are almost 900 pending gas connections to be provided for industrial purposes. According to information provided to the National Assembly in written form, the total amount incurred by CAA on projects during 2005-06 was Rs 636 million, in 2006-07, this amount increased to Rs 1867 million while in 2007-08, it went up to Rs 2878 million.
While responding to a question, Hameed Ullah Jan Afridi, Federal Minister for Environment said that the Ministry of Environment has prepared a full-fledged National Forest Policy to bring about new developments in the forestry sector. "We are sponsoring six mega forestry projects throughout the country. Moreover, it has fixed the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target to increase its forest cover from existing 5.0 percent to 6.0 percent to be achieved by 2015," he said.
While responding to a calling attention notice, Syed Naveed Qamar, Federal Minister for Finance told the National Assembly that the government is concerned about the security of National Saving Centres (NSCs) across the country. The minister said that the Close Circuit TV cameras are being installed at all centers, besides the strength of security personnel are also being increased for the protection of these centres.
He said that CCTV cameras have been installed at 41 places at NSCs while more cameras are being installed. "The government has decided to computerise the system of these centres for timely payment of profits to senior citizens," he told the House. He elaborated that it was mandatory for the customers to open their accounts with NSCs for obtaining their profit amount but the government has removed this compulsion now.
To a question, he said there was shortage of staff in NSCs while the government had imposed ban on new recruitment due to which these centres were facing problems but now the ban has been lifted.
To another calling attention notice regarding increase in prices of edibles in Ramzan, the Parliamentary Secretary for Finance Sajjad-ul-Hassan said the government has introduced a Ramazan package for the people. He maintained that the government is taking essential steps to take actions against the people involved in hoarding.