ISLAMABAD – The federal government has discontinued a subsidy onelectricity bills to agriculture consumers in order to meet conditionsplaced laid forth by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to revive theloan programme.
A notification issued by the Power Division states, the “Federal Cabinet[…] has approved the Discontinuation of Kissan Package for base rate reliefof Rs3.60/kWh to private agriculture consumers from 1st March 2023”.
In October last, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced a Kissan Packagefor the farmers to help them recover after massive floods wreaked havocacross the country. The power subsidy of Rs3.60 per unit at the base tariffwas implemented by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA)in December last year. The move reduced the base rate to Rs13 per unit fromprevious full price of Rs16.60.
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However, the subsidy has been withdrawn two months after it was implementedas the South Asian country facing economic crisis amid depleting foreignexchange reserves.
