Going dark: Pakistani PM’s office warned of power cut over unpaid bills

As Pakistan planned to launch a ballistic missile test, the prime minister’s office reportedly received a threat of having his power cut over a failure to pay a large electricity bill on Wednesday.

The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) issued a notice to Imran Khan’s Secretariat on Wednesday, warning it faced disconnection over the non-payment of bills, the Indo-Asian News Service reports. 

The Secretariat is the headquarters for the cabinet and government of Pakistan in Islamabad and it reportedly owes over $25,677 (41 lakh rupees) to the energy company.  

A IESCO source said this is a “recurrent problem with the Secretariat,” who has reportedly failed to pay up despite a number of reminders. 

Pakistan’s economy is under pressure and its budget deficit rose to the highest in almost three decades this year, just a year after Khan entered office promising to improve the economy. 

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