According to private media sources, a proposal to reduce the number of employees is under consideration before the privatization of utility stores.
According to sources in the Department of Industries and Production, it has been decided to consult the Ministry of Finance on the future decisions regarding utility stores.
After taking the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, the summary will be presented to the ECC. According to sources, the process of closing loss-making stores is already underway. The federal government had stopped subsidies for utility stores in August 2024.
According to the report, the name of the Utility Stores Corporation is included in the privatization program. Utility stores will be privatized in the second phase of the government’s 5-year privatization program.
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On the other hand, a Gallup survey revealed that 47 percent of Pakistanis do not visit utility stores. The rate of non-visitors is higher among women and in rural areas.
According to a Gallup Pakistan survey, almost half of Pakistanis said they have never visited a utility store. The survey was conducted among more than 1,000 people across the country. Gallup Pakistan asked, “Have you ever visited a utility store?”
Forty-seven percent of Pakistanis said they had never visited a utility store, while 45 percent said they often went there. Eight percent did not answer the question.
According to the survey results, the proportion of non-visitors was higher among women and in rural areas, where 51 percent of women and 43 percent of men said they had never visited a utility store.
