Diesel-based power generation damaging economy

ISLAMABAD, MARCH 08 (Online): Former President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Dr. Shahid Rasheed Butt on Tuesday said generating electricity from expensive fuels would have a negative impact on the people and the economy and would accelerate the growth of circular debt which is above Rs24,000 billion or 14 billion dollars.

The circular debt is already a major threat to the national economy and should not be increased but decreased using all the available options, he said.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that because of mismanagement in the procurement of LNG, electricity is now being generated from diesel which has reached its highest level in the last seven years, leading to rising import bill which is increasing the budget deficit.

The business leader said that diesel is 14% more expensive than furnace oil while it is 55% more expensive than LNG but it is still being preferred for power generation.

He informed that seventeen percent of Pakistan’s electricity used to be generated from LNG, but now that proportion is steadily declining and it is being replaced by other expansive options.

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