By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said on Tuesday that Chinese engineers killed in a bomb blast near Karachi’s airport were negotiating with the government to restructure billions of dollars in energy debt, a crucial step to ease the country’s power tariff burden.
“I offer my condolences to the people of China and the Chinese government,” Aurangzeb said in a televised address. “The victims were IPP engineers with whom Energy Minister Awais Leghari and I were negotiating to re-profile our debt and extend payment maturities, enabling us to reduce power tariffs and provide relief to the public.”
Aurangzeb stated that he and the power minister were negotiating debt reprofiling with the slain Chinese engineers. “And I am saying that this is — or was — the Chinese IPP who had extended their hand to us. These are people, our brothers, who stepped up to help us.”
Two Chinese nationals were among three people killed, and a dozen others injured near Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport on Sunday evening in a terrorist attack claimed by a separatist militant group.
Aurangzeb said the engineers had assured him that they would create a mutually beneficial situation for China and Pakistan. “The engineers told us that they would create a win-win situation for China and Pakistan.”
“So terrorism, strife or strike, when our economy is stable and we are going towards another journey, these are setbacks we cannot afford at this time — nor will we,” he added. “I want to appeal to everyone — my brothers and sisters — to not take a step in the direction where it harms the economy.”
Pakistan has long suffered from terrorist attacks, claiming thousands of lives and damaging its struggling economy. Frequent protests and shutter-down strikes have exacerbated these woes.
Aurangzeb expressed concern over economic losses due to recent protests in Islamabad by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party.
“We face serious consequences whenever the government is compelled to shut down businesses and cities due to the law and order situation,” he said. “In Islamabad alone, 0.8 million people were affected in the last 3-4 days due to this kind of strife.”
The economy incurs losses of Rs190 billion daily due to strikes. “This loss encompasses GDP, tax revenue, business disruption, export, and IT service losses,” Aurangzeb explained. Pakistan’s total GDP is Rs124 trillion.
“Whether it is terrorism, strike or strife. These are the setbacks, which our country cannot afford… We as a government remain committed to consolidate our economic position and attain a sustainable growth path.”
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
