In Pakistan, subsidies are given to non-deserving people: PM Imran Khan

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Wednesday a "national consensus" was urgently required on the ongoing situation of natural gas in Pakistan, as well as the subsidies that were fuelling a circular debt crisis.

Speaking at a seminar on 'Sustainability, Security and Affordability of Natural Gas Supply in Pakistan' organised by the Petroleum Division, Imran Khan stressed if the country had debated on which fuel to use to produce electricity, "we would have not faced such a crisis".

"Only 27 percent Pakistanis use gas supplied via pipeline and the rest use LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders, which I use as well. The cost of LPG is 4 percent higher than the gas supplied through pipeline,” he said.

“With imported gas costing Rs17 a unit, selling it for Rs14 a unit creates a gap worth Rs3 a unit, which leads to the worsening situation Pakistan is in,” he said. "This is utter distortion," he said. "Subsidies are given to people who lack basic necessities or to remote areas that do not have adequate facilitation.

"That is how wealth is created — ultimately contributing to per capita income and GDP and, in our case, we can return the debts that we have since ages," he added, noting that a review of relevant documents made him realise how, in Pakistan, "subsidies are given to people who do not even deserve them".

About the shortage of gas in the country, he highlighted the problems faced by the provinces and pointed out that Punjab had a deficit and was facing problems, whereas Khyber Pakhtunkhwa says that it uses very little of the gas it produces.

However, he was confident and hopeful that the participants of the seminar, led by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar, would reach a consensus on this matter. He also warned that the country was heading towards a gas crisis and remarked, “I am alarmed because there will be a problem this winter but an even bigger problem next winter,” he maintained.

He emphasised that they should consider national interests and continued that it was very important that consensus was evolved and there was awareness among the masses so they take the right decision. “When there is no consensus, provinces start feeling like they are being sidelined,” he said.

Prime Minister strongly advocated the importance of debates on matters of national interest. He gave the example of China, which had developed at a rapid pace not seen before because the government had a robust system of debates. He added the Chinese had splendid debates.

“When a country does long-term planning, then it avoids situations like the one Pakistan is stuck in today while Pakistan had a lot of potential in the hydro-electricity sector but it had not been utilised because previous governments did not focus on it. No one thought of it because our system is such that plan is made only for elections so they can get immediate results. Nobody thought about it, even during military rule,” he said.

The premier thanked the independent power producers (IPPs) for their agreement with the government, saying, “I am very thankful to IPPs because the agreement with them will provide a huge relief for the people.” He said the government would apprise the nation next week about the savings to be accrued from these renewal of contracts that would help reduce burden on the people.