CNG prices to be lowered from July 1: Naveed.

ISLAMABAD, June 19, 2009 (Balochistan Times) --Federal Minister for Privatisation Syed Naveed Qamar Friday said the government had withdrawn Carbon Tax on CNG respecting the peoples aspirations while the gas prices would also be reduced from July 1.In an exclusive talk with the reporter here at the Parliament House, Naveed Qamar urged the media to highlight the governments steps of bringing down the prices and only highlighting the raise in prices was unfair. To a question over the raise in electricity tariff and withdrawal of subsidies on power, the minister said until and unless the government does not increase power generation, the people would have to face load-shedding quandary which was affecting each and every segment of the society.We would have to rationalize the power prices. We can increase the power generation by getting more revenue. The government would withdraw the subsidy over electricity during the next fiscal year. However, the nation would have to render one-time sacrifice and only then we would be able to increase the power generation to meet the electricity demands, he remarked. To a question about the lacklustre performance of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), the minister said despite high-level meetings with the KESC management, the performance of the company remained below power. The President, Governor, Chief Minister and other officials of Sindh held separate talks with the KESC management for resolving the load shedding issue in Karachi. However, the issue could not be resolved. If there is no improvement, then National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) would have to intervene for further action against the authority, he warned. To another query over the raise in taxes of Short Message service (SMS), the minister said the government had reduced taxes to the telecom industry. However, he said there was a minor raise in SMS prices and it would not affect the telecom growth. Rather, he added, the SMS tariff raise would help the government generate more revenue.

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