Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has strongly protested against 12 percent hike in power tariff and 26 percent increase in natural gas tariff from January 2010 as it will kill the industry and put unbearable burden on the common man.

Zahid Maqbool, President, ICCI called upon the Finance Minister Mr. Shaukat Tarin to take business community on board before considering any increase in power tariff so that instead of resorting to short cuts that will cripple the business activities in the country other viable options could be explored with mutual efforts to improve country’s revenue generation capacity.

He also took strong exception to the recommendation of Chairman Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) Mr. Tuqeer Sadiq to increase natural gas tariff by 26 percent from first January 2010 and said it will have highly detrimental impact on industrial sector apart from adding miseries of consumers who are already overburdened.

Zahid Maqbool said dollar has depreciated in the international market, oil prices have stabilised, interest rate and inflation have come down and in wake of these indicators, there is no justification to increase the gas tariff. He also criticized government’s approach of taking unilateral decisions on matters which directly affect businessmen and stressed that government should consult all stakeholders for developing consensus on key decisions.

He said utility tariffs in Pakistan are already one of the highest in the region putting the country at great disadvantage in exports against its regional competitors while the proposed electricity & gas tariff hike will almost push Pakistan out of competition.

He said the recent Trade Policy had targeted six percent growth in exports while the last four months trading trend has shown 9 percent fall in exports. He questioned how the government will achieve export targets by making power more costly, which is a key input in production activities.

ICCI President said business sector in Pakistan is already in hot waters due to multiple factors including security issues, energy crisis, high interest rates, squeezing credit facilities and dwindling exports while the further increase in power tariff will add fire to the fuel endangering the survival of trade and industry in the country.

He stressed upon the government to work out long term plans for energy solution & revenue generation instead of resorting to unwise short cuts that will have long lasting negative impact on overall economy.