'Gas subsidy lifted from companies’

Gas subsidy had been lifted from factories and major companies before the redirection of meat subsidy in favour of citizens, revealed Information and Parliament Affairs Minister Isa bin Abdulrahman Al Hammadi.

Speaking at the weekly session of the Council of Representatives on Tuesday, Al Hammadi said that the government put the citizen at the core of its priorities in any development project.

Al Hammadi said, “The meat subsidy had been redirected. What happened in the past was that non-citizens and commercial establishments and companies benefited from it, but now it has been redirected to the citizens. Maybe the door of discussion is still open regarding implementation mechanisms; nonetheless, the principle is agreed by the government and the legislature.”

“There is no discrimination in the government’s implementation of subsidy redirection policy, and the Ministry of Labour and Social Development earlier announced that the cash amount would be transferred to the family breadwinner, confirming the government’s steady commitment to its policy to ensure citizens’ rights,” he added.

The Minister said the government had not begun with the meat subsidy redirection policy, but rather with gas subsidy redirection aimed at factories and companies as per the Minister of Energy’s resolution.

“Now, we are in the phase of lifting the gas commodity subsidy to match global market rates and alleviate the existing pressure on the expenditures in the budget during the current session,” Al Hammadi added.