ISLAMABAD: The caretaker government of Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is looking for International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval before extending any relief to electricity consumers dealing with highly inflated bills, said the information minister, as street protests continued in the country.
People have taken to streets in various Pakistani cities to demand relief from the latest increase in power tariffs amid record inflation in the country. Television footage over the weekend showed people burning the bills and scuffling with officials of power distribution companies.
The protests began in Karachi on August 17 in response to a Rs4.96 per unit power tariff increase by Pakistan’s National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and have since spread across the country. The price hike was agreed with the IMF earlier this year when the international lender approved a short-term $3 billion bailout package for Pakistan.
The prime minister on Tuesday chaired a federal cabinet meeting to discuss different measures to extend relief to electricity consumers, but the government failed to announce the strategy to assuage public anger.
“Some proposals were discussed during the [cabinet] meeting, but it is imperative to take the International Monetary Fund on board in this regard,” information minister Murtaza Solangi said while speaking to a private news channel.
He said the cabinet deliberated over the recommendations of the energy ministry on the issue related to inflated electricity bills.
“Minister of Finance Shamshad Akhtar was in contact with the IMF and soon the government would be in a position to announce its decisions over the issue related to the bills,” Solangi was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his ministry.
“The decisions would be made after reviewing primary surplus and circular debt data,” he said.
A source in the energy ministry told Arab News that officials were working on a plan to offer electricity consumers of up to 400 units to deposit their bills in four equal instalments.
“Different proposals are being discussed at the moment to extend relief to consumers and hopefully a concrete plan would be announced soon,” he said.
The previous government of ex-PM Shehbaz Sharif agreed with the IMF to raise taxes and power prices for a deal in June that helped the nation avert a sovereign debt default.
On the other hand, All Pakistan Anjuman-e-Tajiran, a body of traders in Pakistan’s commercial capital of Karachi, on Monday threatened to “observe a countrywide shutter down strike on August 31” if the government failed to address the issue of tariff hikes.
The protests over electricity bills are the first challenge for Kakar’s two-week old caretaker administration, which was installed as a constitutional requirement to supervise national elections after the dissolution of the National Assembly earlier in August.
Syed Akhtar Ali, an energy expert, said the government would have to create a fiscal space to extend relief to domestic electricity consumers, otherwise the street protests would “lead to anarchy in the country.”
“The least the government can do at this stage is to withdraw the 17 percent general sales tax on the bills of up to 300 units to provide immediate relief to the public,” he told Arab News.
Ali said the government could compensate the GST burden through budgetary adjustment and cracking down on tax evasion in different sectors.
“In the long run, the government could devise a multiprong strategy to fix the energy crisis by overcoming line losses, theft and phasing out the expensive power plants,” he suggested.
Government looks for IMF nod to extend relief to electricity consumers in Pakistan
https://arab.news/wbw5q
Government looks for IMF nod to extend relief to electricity consumers in Pakistan
- Information Minister says the government is in touch with the IMF to discuss relief measures and would announce them soon
- Energy expert suggests the government to withdraw 17 percent general sales tax to extend immediate relief to consumers
Pakistan, Iraq agree on tighter coordination over pilgrims under new regulated travel system
- New system requires all Iraq-Iran pilgrimages to be organized by licensed groups under state oversight
- Long-running “Salar” model relied on informal caravan leaders, leading to overstays and missing pilgrims
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Iraq this week agreed to closely coordinate on the management and security of Pakistani pilgrims, as Islamabad rolls out a new, tightly regulated travel system aimed at preventing overstays, undocumented migration and security breaches during religious visits to Iraq and Iran.
The understanding was reached during a meeting between Pakistan’s Interior and Narcotics Control Minister Mohsin Naqvi and Iraq’s Interior Minister General Abdul Amir Al-Shammari on Thursday evening, where both sides discussed measures to facilitate pilgrims while strengthening oversight, Pakistan’s interior ministry said.
The agreement comes as Pakistan dismantles its decades-old pilgrim travel model and replaces it with a centralized, licensed system after authorities confirmed that tens of thousands of Pakistani pilgrims had overstayed or gone missing abroad over the past decade, triggering concerns from host governments.
“You have, for the first time during your tenure, taken effective measures to organize pilgrim groups, which are commendable,” Al-Shammari told Naqvi, according to Pakistan’s interior ministry.
“All pilgrims included in the list provided by Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior will be allowed to enter Iraq,” he added, making clear that only travelers cleared under the new system would be permitted.
Naqvi said Pakistan would strictly enforce return timelines under the revised framework.
“Pilgrims traveling to Iraq will not be allowed to stay beyond the designated period,” he said, adding that relevant authorities in both countries would remain in close coordination.
Both interior ministers also agreed to strengthen information-sharing and joint mechanisms on security cooperation, counterterrorism and the prevention of human smuggling, officials said.
“The safety, dignity, and facilitation of Pakistani pilgrims is the top priority of the Government of Pakistan,” Naqvi said.
Al-Shammari said he would visit Pakistan soon to finalize a joint roadmap to further improve pilgrim facilitation, security coordination and broader bilateral cooperation, according to the interior ministry.
Pakistan’s government has overhauled its pilgrim travel regime this year, abolishing the long-running “Salar” system under which informal caravan leaders managed pilgrimages. The move followed official confirmation that around 40,000 Pakistani pilgrims had overstayed or disappeared in Iran, Iraq and Syria over the past ten years.
Under the new Ziyarat Management Policy, only licensed Ziyarat Group Organizers (ZGOs) are allowed to arrange pilgrimages, with companies held directly responsible for ensuring pilgrims return on time. Authorities have completed security clearance for 585 companies seeking registration, while scrutiny of applications remains ongoing.
Islamabad has also barred overland travel for major pilgrimages, including Arbaeen, citing security risks in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, meaning all travel to Iraq and Iran is now restricted to regulated air routes.
Tens of thousands of Pakistani pilgrims travel each year to Iraq and Iran to visit some of the most revered shrines in Shia Islam, including the mausoleums of Imam Ali in Najaf and Imam Hussain in Karbala in Iraq, and major religious sites in Mashhad and Qom in Iran. Pilgrimages peak during religious occasions such as Arbaeen, when millions of worshippers converge on Karbala from across the region. The scale of travel, often involving long stays and cross-border movements, has long posed logistical, security and migration-management challenges for Pakistani authorities and host governments alike.
