Rs73 billion allocated for payment of petroleum sector's arrears: Miftah

Islamabad: Finance and Revenue Minister Miftah Ismail said Rs73 billion had been allocated for the payment of arrears of the petroleum sector.

The gas rate for the industrial sector would be announced soon, he added.

The minister said during budget speech that the government had prioritised the transmission and distribution of electricity and woudld be assigning importance to it.

"In this sector, the government has provided Rs214 billion in additional subsidies in the first three months so that the burden of the previous government's [policies] does not fall on the masses," he said.

The minister said the government had proposed to allocate Rs570 billion for this sector in FY23 so that the people could survive the scorching heat and have electricity supply in their homes.