Opposition leader in the National Assembly Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday bashed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government saying the recent Rs2.52 per unit hike in the electricity price was a cruel act, reported 24NewsHD TV.

Taking a jibe at the PTI-led government, Shehbaz said that the deceiving government made a promise to provide relief to the masses but instead of providing relief, the government increased the power tariff.

Shehbaz was of the view that the government made a false claim that the budget was tax-free.

I keep on saying as long as this government stays, neither the economy nor the lives of people will be saved, he added.

Shehbaz said if the government ends subsidy on gas for industries, it means the start of an economic ruin. If the wheel of industry stops working, how the employment could be generated, he wondered. 

After ending subsidy on gas, the electricity would become more expensive and it would further slower down the economy. 

The government has purchased the costliest ever LNG and the news that it would sell the LNG at Rs5,000 per unit is quite alarming, the opposition leader added. 

Gas shortage of 400-500 cubic feet per day speaks volume of government’s corruption, incompetence and criminal mismanagement, said Shehbaz.

He lamented that in a span of three years, the price of sugar has gone up from Rs53/kg to Rs160/kg. 

Sugar prices have registered an increase of 200 percent which is very hard for the inflation-hit masses, added Shehbaz.

Shehbaz said profiteers have pocketed Rs270 billion, but the government is t behaving in a way as if everything was ok.

Rising electricity prices will slow down industrial production, unemployment will rise further, said Shehbaz.

He held that price of sugar in Peshawar has gone up to Rs175 per kg. “Where is the government? Where is the relief,” he asked. 

Reporter Awais Kiyani