Bilour blasts govt for raising gas tariff

PESHAWAR: Awami National Party (ANP) senior leader Ilyas Ahmad Bilour has criticised the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for raising the gas tariff and levying new taxes.

Through a statement issued here on Tuesday, the ANP leader said that Sindh was producing 69 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 18 percent and Balochistan 4 percent gas. He said that hike in gas tariff for the consumers in these provinces was a violation of the article 158 of the Constitution and an attempt to sabotage the 18th Amendment.

The government was making life difficult for the residents of other provinces to appease one province, he said, adding, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was producing surplus gas than its requirement.

He said that Punjab was utilising 60 percent of the gas produced in Pakistan while the liquefied natural gas (LNG) was also being imported for Punjab, adding the burden was being shared by the provinces that were self-sufficient in gas production.

He said that the hike in compressed natural gas (CNG) prices would affect the poor people. The ANP leader said that the government had failed to widen the tax net but more taxes were levied on the taxpayers that would damage the country’s economy.

He added that the imposition of new taxes to generate Rs178 billion was unjust that had exposed the 100 days plan of the new government.“[Prime Minister] Imran Khan had claimed that he would widen the tax net to raise the tax revenue to Rs 8,000 billion but he could not include new taxpayers into the net,” he added.