Poor will not be burdened: Malik

Minister says 50% of people will be saved from gas price hike

ISLAMABAD:

Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Musadik Malik said on Saturday that multiple proposals had been prepared for the International Monetary Fund’s review. “Let me be clear, poor people will not be burdened by the gas price hike,” he announced.

The state minister, while talking to a private news channel, stressed that his ministry had devised a broader framework under which 50% of the country’s population, comprising the poorest, would be saved from the gas price hike. He revealed that the prime minister had been presented with suggestions that, if approved, would satisfy both the IMF and the general populace.

“Very soon, we will be able to cut down circular debt and problems in the gas sector will be fixed,” said Malik. Repudiating the proposals of extending the government’s constitutional term by imposing financial emergency, he said that no such proposal had been considered at the party level. Earlier, the IMF announced that it would send its mission to Pakistan next week in a bid to break the deadlock over critical loan terms.