Sherry slams government over the ongoing gas crisis

Islamabad: Parliamentary Leader of the PPP in the Senate, Senator Sherry Rehman said Friday that there seemed to be no respite as the gas crisis continues to worsen as a result of PTI government’s mismanagement.

Now the imported gas, which had been bought at record high prices and faced numerous delays due to contracts with defaulter companies, will add a whopping Rs50 billion to the circular debt which is already at Rs2.419 trillion, she said.

“As the industries are also facing a gas shortage, this will impact our already struggling exports and serve as a blow to our GDP growth. As of now, the current account deficit has increased to $1.91 billion in November and $7 billion for FY22, while the imports are at a whopping $29.9 billion for FY22 (July-Nov). Lack of gas supply is going to worsen the economic situation of the country, as industries will be brought to a halt. Pakistan’s economic growth is already severely stunted due to the government’s lack of planning and policymaking,” she added.

Highlighting PTI government’s incompetence, Rehman said, “Once again an LNG trading company has defaulted on its cargo delivery which was due on January 10th, 2022. This company had already defaulted from the provision of the term cargo on November 19-20, 2021. It is shocking how the government has still not learned their lesson. This level of incompetence that leads to no due diligence of such orders is only adding to the public pain”.

“Sindh, which is the largest contributor to nationwide gas production, producing around 65-70% of it, is deprived of it. Gas production from Sindh is between 2,700-3,000 mmcfd, while the SSGC was supplying less than 1,200 mmcfd to the province. According to SSGC, the gas shortage in January 2022 would further increase to 280 mmcfd as demand would be around 1296 mmcfd and supply would be the same. Sindh is going through a hard time because of federal government’s lack of cooperation”.

Vice President PPP, Senator Sherry Rehman concluded by saying, “As the temperature is dropping, the demand for gas is increasing but due to the incompetence of the incumbent government, both domestic consumers and the commercial sector is struggling. There needs to be an urgent enquiry into this matter”.