LAHORE: Criticising the federal government on expensive purchase of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has said that a loss of $500 million to the national exchequer in just three months is a proof of the government’s crimes.
In a series of tweets on Sunday, the opposition leader said that the State Bank of Pakistan’s Second Quarterly Report and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA)’s State of Industry Report are “proof of PML-N’s truth and government’s lies”.
“The government has punished the people by buying LNG that is 30 percent more expensive than the market,” he said.
Shehbaz said he regrets that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) does not see what is happening today and is, instead, scrounging up five-year old deals.
He said, “NEPRA’s report has proven what we said was true, word for word,” he added. He went on to say that instead of running cheap power plants, “the nation’s pockets were bled dry” with the production of expensive power.
He said the people’s troubles were exacerbated by the use of plants that not only produced expensive power but had a low production capacity. Running expensive power plants has increased the financial burden on the country and losses to the people, the opposition leader added.
Referring to the SBP’s second quarterly report, he said that it is a proof that LNG reduced the cost of electricity. “Thank God that even with a government exacting political revenge, a testimony for our service and honesty to the country has come to the fore,” Shehbaz said. “Savings of Rs234 billion between 2017 and 2020 is a testament to our sincere public service,” he claimed.
The former Punjab chief minister said that the “hard work” that the PML-N did in its tenure, “saved the nation’s wealth, and gave the people relief, thank God.” He said that the first quarterly report of SBP for 2018 and 2019 “confirmed that the reduction in current account deficit was due to our initiatives”.
Shehbaz said that the prices of petroleum products accounted for one-third of the 22.7 percent drop in imports through our hard work, adding that it is “a victory for Nawaz Sharif’s vision”.
Noting China’s cooperation in assisting Pakistan in its power generation efforts, he further said that the operation of a 660 MW coal-fired power plant in Thar in 2019 increased power generation by 45 percent. “Both the case and the face are clearly visible in the SBP and NEPRA reports,” he said, adding: “I hope NAB sees them too.”
