ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Pakistan Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is due to preside over an emergency meeting today, on Sunday, to discuss a hike in power tariff, which has sparked protests in the South Asian nation already facing an economic meltdown.
People took to streets in multiple Pakistani cities for the third consecutive day on Sunday to protest the exorbitant hike in electricity prices. The protests that began Friday have seen enraged participants burning their electricity bills.
The demonstrations followed last month’s move by the country’s power regulator, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), to increase the electricity price by Rs4.96 per unit last, which has resulted in soaring power bills.
The measure was aimed at fulfilling a condition imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in return for a $3 billion bailout package for the South Asian country. It came as inflation in Pakistan eased to 28.3 percent in July after reaching a historic high of 38 percent in May, though it continues to remain significantly elevated.
“I have called an emergency meeting at the Prime Minister’s House tomorrow on the issue of hiked electricity bills,” the caretaker prime minister announced on the X messaging platform, formerly known as Twitter.
“In the meeting, a briefing will be sought from the ministry of power and distribution companies and consultations will be held to give maximum relief to consumers regarding their electricity bills.”
On Saturday, Pakistan’s caretaker information minister Murtaza Solangi said the government was aware of the challenges faced by citizens due to the escalating electricity costs.
The statement came amid announcements from mosques in the country that urged the masses to not pay their utility bills to protest the hike. Video clips from the Pakistani cities of Mansehra and Wazirabad went viral online, showing people making such announcements from the mosques.
Friday marked the beginning of the protests initiated by the business community against the surge in electricity prices, with plans to gradually expand the movement across the country.
“We had already warned our rulers not to become an instrument in the hands of the international financial institutions by implementing anti-people policies,” Muhammad Kashif Chaudhry, president of an association of traders in the country, said in a statement.
Numerous trade bodies in Karachi, Islamabad and Peshawar have since issued warnings of potential “consequences” if the government did not take action to address the mounting power tariffs.
Over the last 30 days, Pakistan has also elevated fuel prices twice, increasing the cost of living amid inflationary pressure that already remains high.
