Protests against high power bills in Pakistan grew on Wednesday after the government refused to slash energy prices without the nod from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A massive increase in the price of electricity triggered protests across major cities earlier, with angry people burning the bills, blocking highways and attacking the power companies’ offices.

Caretaker Prime Minister Anwar Kakar has promised relief, but his cabinet on Tuesday said slashing the bills would jeopardise a massive IMF loan.

In July, the global lender had put Pakistan under harsh conditions to end energy subsidies and meet revenue targets for a US$3 billion loan to revive the nuclear-armed nation’s crumbling economy.

“We will talk to the IMF to provide relief,” Information Minister Murtaza Solangi said.

But the government’s inaction prompted more people to join rallies and protests nationwide, including in the capital Islamabad.

“We are drowned in the flood of inflation. These bills are unbearable. If I pay the bill this month, I cannot feed my three kids,” said Noorul Amin, a cab driver.

Mohamed Karamat, a barber in a middle-class neighbourhood, received a 60,000 rupee ($200) bill for August, which he said was beyond his means to pay.

Unions for traders and industrialists said they could not run businesses at the current level of energy prices.

“It’s going to be very, very tough,” said Ajmal Baloch, a trade union leader in Islamabad.

Electricity prices have doubled in the past year, while fuel rates have increased by more than 150 per cent in Pakistan. 

(dpa/NAN)