The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) has welcomed the announcement of an energy relief package by the current government for SMEs and industries and termed it a highly positive development as it would bring down the production cost, make our industry competitive and help in enhancing country’s exports. However, the Chamber said that the government should have provided this relief on all units of electricity consumed by SMEs and industries to enable them in achieving accelerated growth which would help turn around the economy.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry said that power tariffs in Pakistan were considered the highest in the region due to which the cost of doing business had gone up significantly and our SMEs were facing great difficulties in producing goods at competitive prices thus exports were suffering. He hoped that providing 50 percent relief in commercial electricity price to SMEs on additional usage from November this year to June next year and 25 percent relief to all industries on additional usage of electricity for three years would be instrumental in reducing production cost and boosting industrialization in the country leading to increase in exports. He said that abolishing peak hour regime was a laudable step of the government to support the industry.
Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the government should reduce high taxes on power tariffs and also consider providing similar relief to industry in gas tariffs for the next three years that would make our industry very competitive and help boost exports. He said that the government should fix power tariffs for the next five years at one level, which would give more confidence to the investors and help businesses make long-term planning for growth and expansion. He said that Pakistan was mostly depending on thermal fuel for energy generation due to which cost of electricity was very high and urged that the government should focus on renewable energy sources including water, wind and solar to produce cheap energy that would make Pakistan an attractive destination for local and foreign investment. He further said that government should take measures to control power theft and transmission & distribution losses as to cover such losses, the government mostly tended to pass on their burden to the end consumers due to which commercial and domestic consumers were facing high electricity prices. He said that an inquiry report of NEPRA had disclosed that Discos had installed 30-35 percent faster meters and emphasized that the government should investigate this issue to save consumers from such injustices and unethical practices.
Ms. Fatma Azim Senior Vice President and Abdul Rehman Khan Vice President ICCI said that government should abolish peak hour regime (ToU meters) for residential customers as well to provide them some relief. They said that to combat the impact of Covid-19 pandemic, many countries have made drastic cut in policy interest rates and urged that SBP should also reduce interest rate to bring it down to less than 5 percent, which would encourage local and foreign investment in the country and facilitate the businesses to expand and grow at a progressive rate.