On Monday, Chairman of National Business Group Pakistan, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum, and All Karachi Industrial Alliance and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain said state-run gas companies are becoming a threat to the economy due to increasing losses.

Professional management should be allowed to work, or these utilities should be sold immediately to avoid further losses, which have jumped to one per cent of the GDP, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that realizing the situation; necessary steps should be taken as the gas companies have become white elephants for the economy due to increased political interference.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the losses of Sui companies include gas theft, leakage and weak recovery. At the same time, the masses have to pay the price for the mismanagement of the gas companies.

The losses of the two state-owned gas companies have reached Rs654 billion and are constantly increasing.

The government is also facing huge losses and criticism due to mismanagement in LNG import, distribution, and sale. Therefore, the private sector’s role should be increased in gas imports so that the people and the business community can get cheap gas and grow.

Mian Zahid Hussain further said that the government should make reforms in the gas sector, but raising the price is considered wrong reform in the current situation.

The government has assured the IMF about a further increase in gas prices. Almost everything will become more expensive, and the condition of the people will become even thinner.

If gas is also made more expensive for the export sector, it will affect the exports, which should be considered, he demanded.

Further liberalization of OGRA is on the cards, which will enable the regulator to make decisions without pressure.

Some elements take salaries from the government but serve the mafia’s interests, and such dishonest officials should be removed before drastic moves.