ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday announced a massive cut in the energy prices, a month after receiving $1 billion loan tranche from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF executive board approved $1 billion disbursement to Pakistan on February 2 after completing a sixth review of the country's reforms under its $6 billion loan program secured in 2019.
The global lender revived the program after the government met its several key conditions, including parliamentary backing to central bank’s full autonomy, uniform implementation of sales tax and energy tariff hikes.
However, Monday's announcement appeared to be in contrast with the conditions Pakistan had agreed to for the revival of its loan program.
"We have decided that we are reducing petrol and diesel by Rs10 today," the prime minister said in a televised speech on Monday.
He said his government expected oil and commodity prices to reduce across the world, but they did not appear to be coming down any time soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The decision was taken for the sake of not passing on the impact of global oil price hike to the consumers, the premier said.
He said the country generated 60 percent of electricity from imported furnace oil, which had also been burdening the masses.
"We are decreasing electricity [price] by Rs5 per unit," PM Khan announced, "which means your bills will be reduced by 20-50 percent."
He said his government had decided not to increase the two tariffs "till the next budget."
Speaking of the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), he defended the recent amendments made to the law by his government.
The amendments were approved through a presidential ordinance earlier this month. The amendment to section 20 of PECA 2016 increases the jail term for defaming any person or institution on social media from two to five years and makes it mandatory for courts to decide cases within six months. The offense has also been made non-bailable.
Almost all of Pakistan’s opposition parties and journalist unions have opposed the new law. The government denies it wants to censor the press or political opponents.
"Such filth is appearing of social media in Pakistan, child pornography," PM Khan argued. "FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) has 94,000 pending cases in which women were harassed, families were broken."
PM Khan said he himself was not spared, referring to reports in the media about his family.
"Nowhere in the world this happens. Mafias are blackmailing in the name of free press here and paid journalists maligning the government," he lamented. "No one can do such irresponsible things in any democracy of the world."
The prime minister said the PECA amendments had nothing to do with the free press, adding "credible journalists" would be glad about an end to "fake news."
