ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan has said the wave of inflation in the country is temporary and with accelerating pace of work on CPEC the prices of essential commodities will slide soon.

He said this while addressing a ceremony in connection with the inauguration of Matiari to Lahore 600 KV transmission line completed under the CPEC, in Islamabad on Thursday

Regarding Matiari-Lahore transmission line, the Prime Minister said this 886 kilometer long state of the art transmission line will help reduce power losses. More investment will be made in the transmission line projects to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the consumers.

He held line losses therein are about 4 percent while line losses earlier were 17 percent. Even one percent line losses causes loss of billion of rupees to the country.

He indicated that our transmission lines have gone old and dilapidated causing huge line losses. Particularly line losses of Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) are the highest due to which we cannot supply it to the consumers despite having the electricity. This causes inconvenience to the people. Loadsheddng takes place due to non investment on old lines.

From Matiari to Lahore 600 KV state of the art transmission line has been laid and we will make investment on remaining lines, he pointed out.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the breakout of Covid-19 created some hurdles including disruption of supply chains which increased prices of essential commodities. But as the situation is improving, progress will again be visible on the CPEC related projects as well as bringing down the inflation.

Imran Khan said the scope of the corridor project is now being expanded from power generation and road infrastructure projects to cooperation in the areas of industries and agriculture. He said cooperation in these two important sectors will help Pakistan reduce the debt burden through wealth creation.

CPEC started with the generation of electricity, he said roads and transmission projects were included in it later. The next is phase of industrialization. Wealth can not come in the country without it. We will be able to retire country’s debt when money comes, he remarked.

Pace of work on CPEC will be further accelerated. We had to face multiple difficulties due to corona virus and all the supply chains were affected. The prices of essential commodities rose up in the entire world including Pakistan. But this is temporary. Fear of epidemic is receding. I hope next wave will be highly less, he added. The temporary wave of inflation which we are facing will slide.