KARACHI: Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Monday said power tariff hike decision which came days after assurances that electricity price would not be increased in the current fiscal is shocking.

The proposed tariff hike will hit masses and every sector of the economy putting a burden of over Rs135 billion on the masses, he said while talking to the business community. Hussain said that following a hike in the price of pharmaceutical products and fuel, the decision to increase power tariff shows that IMF wishes were being honored.

The veteran business leader said that the decision amid worst load-shedding is being dubbed as a mini-budget by the masses which has resulted in sleepless nights for the masses. He said that a decision had been reached to increase power tariff by Rs2.97 per unit which includes Rs1.25 surcharge and quarterly adjustments.

“NEPRA has said that the hike will be imposed on all sectors, excluding domestic consumers using less than 300 units, which is a baseless argument as masses will suffer as the price of everything will increase due to costly electricity,” he said in a statement.

Hussain said that sustainable and cheap electricity was central to the national development while the transmission system was unable to distribute more than 24500 megawatts of power while its improvement was not a priority. He noted that costly electricity would reduce consumption and promote theft which will hit masses and production.