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Pakistani Prime Minister Holds Emergency Meeting on High Electric Bills


A trader holds a placard reading 'prevent unemployment from rising' during a protest at a street in Karachi, Aug. 23, 2023, against the surge in petrol and electricity prices as Pakistan endures soaring inflation.
A trader holds a placard reading 'prevent unemployment from rising' during a protest at a street in Karachi, Aug. 23, 2023, against the surge in petrol and electricity prices as Pakistan endures soaring inflation.

Pakistan’s caretaker prime minister, Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar, is holding an emergency ministers’ meeting Sunday to discuss the high electricity bills that have caused some people to take to the street in protest.

“In the meeting, a briefing will be taken from the ministry of power and distribution companies and consultations will be held regarding giving maximum relief to consumers regarding electricity bills,” the prime minister posted earlier this week on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, reported that in Lahore, Sunday, dozens of people gathered their bills together and set them on fire, while chanting, “Expensive electricity is unacceptable.”

Recently increased electricity taxes have caused the monthly bills to skyrocket.

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