Islamabad: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has demanded immediate hike in the gas prices.
The international lender has expressed its concerns to Pakistan over not increasing the prices from July 1.
The IMF said that not up-ticking the prices in month of July is a violation of the agreement brokered with it.
The government has called Economic Coordination Committee on October 23 Monday.
Earlier, the finance ministry has started preparations to introduce uniform tariff of gas for non export industries.
The ministry has taken the measure on the suggestion of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
From the implementation of the system the increasing of the gas prices feared for a non export industries of the Sui Southern Gas limited.
The government is taking the measures before the arrival of the IMF review mission to Pakistan.
Pakistan has started preparations for talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) set to be held in the current month.
Before the arrival of the IMF review mission to Pakistan, the country’s work on practical measures are underway.
The Ministry of Finance sources said that the international lender wanted to cut pension funds.
To fulfill the demand of the IMF, the finance ministry has prepared a summary for changing the rules of pensions.
Under the summary, the pension will not be given on the basis of the last salary while the yearly increase in salaries will be limited to real pensions.
It is pertinent to mention here that in July this year, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 9-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) for Pakistan for an amount of SDR2,250 million (about $3 billion, or 111 percent of quota) to support the authorities’ economic stabilization program.
It was also reported a week ago that the caretaker set up has decided to increase gas prices by 100 percent.
The interim government has prepared a summary of the gas price hike.
The summary will first be presented to the Economic Coordination Council (ECC) of the cabinet, after its approval in the ECC, then it will be brought into the cabinet for an approval.
A circular debt of the gas sector has reached a whopping amount of Rs 2700 billion. Owing to this an uptick in the gas price is a must.
