Businesses want cut in power tariffs

After a substantial decline in petroleum prices for the current fortnight mainly due to the rupee’s appreciation against the US dollar, business leaders have asked the caretaker government to reduce power tariffs and improve gas supply on a priority basis. Businessmen Group chairman Zubair Moti­wala and Karachi Cham­ber of Commerce Industry (KCCI) President Iftikhar Ahmed Sheikh, in a statement on Monday, said the cut in petrol and diesel prices would provide some relief to the common man and the business community amid unprecedented inflation. They hoped that the caretaker government would also take measures to reduce the power tariffs and devise effective strategies for dealing with the ongoing gas outages and low pressure being suffered by the industries situated in all seven industrial zones of Karachi. The gas supply situation is worsening and it has become impossible for the industrialists to smoothly carry out production activities and meet the export targets, they said.