In Pakistan, PPP blocked consideration of two bills on gas revenues — Dawn
In Islamabad, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) secured the postponement of consideration of two government bills concerning revenues in the gas sector. The decision was made by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Petroleum, chaired by PPP representative Syed Mustafa Mehmood.
As Dawn reports, former federal minister for petroleum and finance and lawmaker Syed Naveed Qamar proposed at the beginning of the meeting not to consider a bill amending the law on the natural gas development levy, as well as a bill amending the Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC).
Use of GIDC funds
The Petroleum Division proposed amending the GIDC law to allow the funds from this levy to be used for building strategic oil and gas reserves. Currently, these funds have a specific purpose: the development of the Pakistan-Iran, Turkmenistan-Pakistan, and domestic gas pipelines.
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According to the publication, around 295 billion Pakistani rupees remain unused in the state treasury. Another more than 400 billion rupees, collected from consumers by fertilizer companies, have not been transferred to the state treasury due to legal issues.
Statements by PPP representatives
After the meeting, Naveed Qamar told journalists that the PPP was not a partner in the government coalition, but had supported the government. According to him, the party had raised concerns with the authorities regarding elections in Azad Kashmir, judicial appointments, and other issues, and would not support the government until it saw tangible progress in resolving them.
Committee chairman Mustafa Mehmood also stated that fertilizer manufacturers should not receive cheap gas if the benefit does not reach farmers. After the discussion, the committee postponed consideration of both bills.
