Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday that the consumption of up to 200 units, which make up 63% of total consumers, will be exempted from the tariff increase, adding that another 31% will also have a partial subsidy.

“Due to the toughest conditions from the International Monetary Fund, the government had to raise the electricity prices,” he said after witnessing the signing of a framework agreement between the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) Trading and the Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL).

“But I stressed that the burden should not be passed on to the protected segments of society,” he said and added that the rise will be up to 5.75 rupees a unit.

His statement comes after the government approved a further increase in base tariffs on electricity. It will increase the price between Rs3 and Rs7.5 per unit or kilowatt hours for several consumers, costing Rs50 unit to the consumers.

The lender had pointed out that liquidity conditions in the power sector remained acute, with a buildup of arrears. The arrears to Pakistan’s power generation companies have accumulated in billions of dollars.

Azerbaijan ‘will offer’ one cargo of LNG to Pakistan each month

Pakistan has signed a framework agreement with Azerbaijan for LNG procurement on flexible terms as the country looks for new avenues to fulfil its energy needs, Radio Pakistan reported.

“Under the agreement, Azerbaijan will offer one cargo of LNG each month and it will be up to Pakistan to either accept the cargo or not,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said after the agreement signed between Pakistan LNG Limited and Azeri Company SOCAR in Lahore on Monday.

“There will be no financial penalty if Pakistan does not accept the cargo,” he said and added that the life of the agreement was one year which was extendable to one more year.

He described the agreement as a “major milestone” in the relations between Pakistan and Azerbaijan. The premier thanked the Azerbaijan president for playing a “pivotal role” in the agreement.

PM Shehbaz also spoke about his recent discussions with the Azeri president. “We have given approval to Azeri airline to land in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. This is a big step forward to promote tourism and investment and exchange of delegations between the two countries,” he added.

In June, the premier visited Azerbaijan where both countries agreed to enhance bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy, trade and aviation sectors to reflect the decades-old strong relationship between the two nations.

The prime minister added that an Azeri delegation of horticulture experts was also arriving in Pakistan on Monday on his invitation. “We want to learn from their expertise to make the landscape of Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Lahore as beautiful as that of Baku.”

“This agreement will help ease gas shortage in the country & provide relief to the people & industry,” the premier tweeted.

He appreciated Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, State Minister Petroleum Musadik Malik and their teams for their hard work. “Without their commitment to public service, this agreement would not have been possible in the shortest span of time.

The Azerbaijan ambassador said that both countries were deepening their cooperation in diverse fields including energy, defence, IT and transport. The two sides are also negotiating a preferential trade agreement, expressing the confidence that they would be successful in this regard as well, he added.