Pakistan, June 1 -- Federal Minister for Energy Owais Leghari has clarified that the government is not withdrawing electricity subsidies for protected consumers, dismissing reports suggesting otherwise as inaccurate and misleading.

Speaking on the government's power sector reforms on Sunday, Leghari said the number of protected consumers has increased from 9.5 million to 21.5 million over the past four years. He added that approximately 29.57 million domestic consumers, representing 86 percent of the total, are currently receiving subsidized electricity.

The minister noted that the volume of electricity subsidies has risen from Rs 199 billion to Rs 423 billion, while a total subsidy of Rs 527 billion is being provided to the agricultura...