ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan announced onWednesday to raise electricity prices by Rs1.95 per unit adding to miseriesof public facing severe inflation.
Addressing a press conference flanked by Planning Minister Asad Umar andPM’s advisor on power Tabish Gohar, he said that the decision will put anadditional burden of Rs 200 billion on public.
The power division will issue the notification in this regard after gettingnod from the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra).
The present rate of the electricity stands at Rs13.35/unit and it willreach Rs 15.30 once the surge is approved.
Omar Ayub also lashed out at the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) formassive circular debt in the power sector.
The latest surge is part of the total Rs3.34 increase approved by PrimeMinister Imran Khan in December with an aim to resume InternationalMonetary Fund’s (IMF) $6 billion loan programme, which is stalled for aboutten months.
The IMF agreed to the rescue package in 2019 as the South Asian country wasgrappled with a balance-of-payments crisis.
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So far, Pakistan has managed to receive $1.44 billion under the loanprogram. The country was hoping to secure another tranche of about $450million in March 2020 but the IMF and Islamabad failed to reach anunderstanding during the second quarterly review.
Succumbing to the pressure by the global lender, PM Khan has givenin-principal approve to accept IMF’s demand about rising power tariff butit is yet to decide the increase will be made at once or gradually.
Following the approval, the economic team of the prime minister hasinitiated consultation on price hikes and circular debt of Rs1.2 trillion.
Raising power tariff is one the basic conditions imposed by the IMF andthere would be no headway in second review of the loan programneuntilPakistan issued notification for new electricity prices, said local mediaciting sources.
It was also revealed in the reports that the government was consideringrevoking tax exemptions for corporate sector as this move would generateRs200 billion additional taxes.
