Nawaz to address nation today

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will be addressing the nation for the first time after taking office at 6pm today (Monday).

Nawaz has already had a briefing by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and other relevant departments on issues of national security and his speech is likely to cover this vital issue.

The prevailing energy crisis in the country could also be a major agenda item in the speech.

With his address, the PM aims at taking the nation into confidence and addressing the prevailing problems, including the energy crisis and terrorism.

Meanwhile, reports said the prime minister would be announcing the new energy policy tomorrow (Tuesday, July 23), during which he is expected to inform the nation about the steps being taken on an emergency basis to enhance power generation, besides announcing a likely hike in power tariff for consumers using over 200 units of electricity per month.

Sources in the Ministry of Water and Power said the PM would be giving the go ahead to the new energy policy at the meeting of Council of Common Interest (CCI) on July 23, followed by its announcement the same day.

The sources said it was being expected that the power subsidy would be considerably reduced in the new energy policy and the price of electricity would not be raised for consumers of up to 200 units.

Under the new policy, Nawaz is also expected to announce short to medium-term power generation projects, including hydro and coal based projects.

The new policy is also likely to envisage targeted steps for prevention and reduction of power theft.

According to the sources, the government was giving up to Rs 5.45 per unit subsidy on average, which was likely to be slashed by half in the new policy.