KARACHI: The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) appreciating the announcement of winter package for industries, on Wednesday demanded that electricity tariff relief announced to enhance industrial production should also be extended to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to achieve the desired outcomes.
The Acting President, FPCCI, Qurrat ul Ain, Regional Chairman FPCCI Abdul Mohamin Khan, and VP FPCCI Aman Paracha, in a statement issued here, also stressed on flat Electricity Tariff across the industries by withdrawing the condition of 100,000 units consumption in the corresponding period of last year and only applying the Rs26 / kWh tariff to the incremental units consumed.
The FPCCI Acting President argued that SMEs and new industries in particular cannot fulfil this conditionality and will remain disadvantaged as compared to the larger industrial units while limited applicability would impede achievement of targeted growth in industrial production and exports.
She highlighted closure of industrial units owing to non-competitive cost of doing business and deficient parameters of ease of doing business and termed the higher electricity tariffs and policy rate as the two topmost obstacles in economic growth.
Despite decline of core inflation to 7.2% in October 2024, the key policy rate continues to be at 15%, she noted and reiterated FPCCI’s demand to bring the interest rate down to single digit in the next meeting of the monetary policy committee of the SBP.
Abdul Mohamin Khan and Aman Paracha stressed on the need of plugging the losses booked by electricity distribution companies (DISCOs), using the buffer for rationalizing electricity tariffs and discouraging K-Electric’s move for increasing electricity tariff for providing relief to business and industrial community of Karachi.
