Businessmen in a meeting at Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) strongly condemned the decision of National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to increase power tariff by 64 paisa per unit from 1st July 2010 and demanded of the government to immediately withdraw this increase to save businessmen and the general public from further trouble.

They said that before taking such decisions, government should always take into confidence all stakeholders including businessmen so that mutually agreeable solutions could be worked out to protect the supreme national interest of the country.

Chairing the meeting, Mr.Zahid Maqbool, President, ICCI said that power tariff in Pakistan was already highest in the region and in this situation, there was no justification to further increase it. He said that during the last more than two years, government has made frequent hikes in power tariff making it more than 70-80 percent costly which has shattered the confidence of businessmen and investors in our economy.

He said consistency in power tariff is the key requirement for making long term business expansion plans. However, he wondered how can entrepreneurs make sustainable future planning in an environment marked by frequent spikes in power, gas and oil prices.

Businessmen said that the frequent increase in power tariffs is affecting investment that would destabilize the economy. They said as per UN Conference on Trade and Development’s report 2010, FDI in Pakistan has declined by more than 56 percent in 2009. Apart apart from other reasons, high power tariff played an important role in discouraging investment in the country, they said.

Mr.Zahid Maqbool said that hike in power tariff not only increases the cost of doing business, it creates a ripple effect as prices of all daily use items go up. He questioned for how long government will keep increasing power tariff in the garb of fuel adjustment and when this practice will come to an end. 

He said that the government should reduce its dependence on oil as thermal power is proving very costly to the nation. He said Pakistan is endowed with plenty of cheap energy sources including hydro, coal, wind, solar and biomass etc. and demanded that government should lure investment for exploitation of these sources through policy measures so that with the generation of cheap energy, businesses could glow and people take a sigh of relief.