Federal government has decided to close shops and commercial areas nationwide from 8 pm starting from 1st July. Ahsan Iqbal said that the use of LED lights should be promoted by replacing old bulbs.
Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) was held, in which the Chief Ministers of Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa participated, while the Chief Minister of Balochistan boycotted the meeting.
After the meeting of the National Economic Council, Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal briefed the media and said that due to increasing global prices, energy has become a major challenge for Pakistan.
He stated that Saudi Arabia has once again decided to reduce its daily production by one million barrels, which poses a threat that by the end of the year, oil prices could reach $100 per barrel again.
He mentioned that if we rely on fossil fuels and oil, our economy will continue to be vulnerable, so the government is making efforts to take two-pronged steps.
He said that one step is to conserve energy, and for that, the cabinet had approved a package today, which includes the closure of shops and commercial centers at 8 pm to save energy. Similarly, the use of LED lights should be promoted by replacing old bulbs.
Ahsan Iqbal said that big countries like America and Europe, which are much more prosperous than us, are much richer than us, they too cannot afford the luxury of opening the commercial area until 11, 12 o’clock.
He mentioned that if you go to Europe, even there, it is a limit that commercial areas close by 6 o’clock or 8 o’clock. Similarly, if you go to China, Malaysia, Indonesia, no one adopts our irresponsible lifestyle, where you keep all commercial centers open until 1 or 2 o’clock at night and conduct precious foreign exchange of your country in the form of bulbs in your shops.