Govt to refund Rs2.5bn to gas consumers: Fawad

ISLAMABAD: Information Minister Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said on Tuesday the government had decided to refund Rs 2.5 billion extra charged from gas consumers in the shape of inflated bills.

Briefing media persons after the federal cabinet meeting, he said over 3.2 million Sui gas consumers were affected by over billing. The committee constituted to probe the matter had found the gas consumers had been over billed since the fiscal year 2016-17. He said the inquiry was still under way and startling revelations were expected on its completion.

The minister said the federal cabinet strongly condemned the Christchurch terror attack, sympathised with the bereaved families and offered Fateha for the martyred. It noted hatred against Muslims was being spread in the West in a systematic way and stressed the need to initiate dialogue among civilisations to counter it.

Fawad said international leaders, including Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, visited Pakistan after assuming of the office by Prime Minister Imran Khan while Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohammad was scheduled to attend Pakistan Day Parade. He said the government would pay special attention to the development of agriculture.

In a detailed briefing, the cabinet was informed that Rs 290 billion would be spent on agriculture development and 18 schemes would be launched in the next five years. The cabinet was also told that imports of agriculture products had reached $ 4 billion, including edible oil costing $ 2 billion.

The government had planned to launch a campaign for reducing the consumption of cooking oil to save precious foreign exchange, he added. The government, he said, was also taking measures for the production of oil seeds, besides developing livestock and fisheries, which would strengthen economy and increase per capita income.

The minister said the cabinet decided to devise a uniform system for the appointment of heads of regulatory bodies, corporations and attached departments of ministries on merit. A committee headed by the respective minister would oversee the process and shortlist the names of potential candidates.