ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved an increase of Rs3.43per unit in electricity price to resume International Monetary Fund’s (IMF)$6 billion loan programme, which is stalled for about ten months.
The latest surge was indispensible for Pakistan to bring the second reviewof the three-year Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme to a positiveconclusion.
The IMF agreed to the rescue package in 2019 as the South Asian country wasgrappled with a balance-of-payments crisis.
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.
Read Top Stories
Following the approval, the economic team of the prime minister hasinitiated consultation on price hikes and circular debt of Rs1.2 trillion.
The current power tariff stands at Rs13.35 per unit and it will surge toRs16.96 after the decision.
