Karachi : Chairman of National Business Group of FPCCI, President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum and All Karachi Industrial Alliance, and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Friday criticised the decision of the gas utility to discontinue supply of natural gas to the general industry which will hit economic activities and employment.

The decision to suspend gas supply is based on weak planning and incompetence of the officials concerned which has left thousands jobless, he said.

Mian Zahid Hussain said that billions have been spent on LNG project but people are still facing a shortfall which is beyond understanding.

The tariff of has been hiked by 700 percent over the last two and a half years but it has failed to improve working of state-run gas companies, he said.

Talking to the business community, the veteran business leader said that the decision of the bureaucracy will prove disastrous for the industry including exports as export base industries have also been closed which will result in supply chain disruption.

The move will not only hurt the industry but revenue and jobs destabilising the trade balance while depriving CNG stations will result in additional inflation as transportation will become costly.

He noted that tenders for import of LNG were delayed resulting in costly imports and now the gas for summer in being ordered in winter which will result in losses to the tune of billions.

The business leader noted that PM Imran Khan is laying special emphasis on exports but some departments are hitting production and exports through their wrong decisions.

Suspension of gas supply to captive power plants in Karachi and Balochistan amounts to playing with the economy of the country which we cannot afford.

The gas shortfall should be distributed across the country so that economic losses can be reduced, he said, adding that hike in the price of LPG is also hurting poor people.