Govt rejects hike in power tariff, assures IMF of an alternate plan
Statesman Report
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials on Tuesday while rejecting an increase in the power tariff said that they would come up with an alternate plan, Dunya News reports.
According to sources, a delegation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) held an important meeting with Pakistani authorities in Islamabad. During the meeting, they delegation was briefed on the reforms programme and performance of the Ministry of Energy.
The IMF delegation was also informed about decrease in the line losses.
The Pakistani officials made it clear that they cannot increase electricity tariff during current situation but instead they wanted to freeze it for 18 months and bring a new power tariff for industrial sector.
Sources further said that the Ministry of Energy and IMF delegation agreed to continue dialogues, however, the delegation didn’t react to the proposal of freezing electricity tariff.
Talks between Pakistan and the IMF began last Monday for the disbursement of third tranche of about $450 million under the $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) finalised in May last year. The IMF delegation, scheduled to remain in Pakistan for 12 days, are performing quarterly review (from October till December) of the economy in the current fiscal year FY20.
The global moneylender has been also considering the performance of various ministries and government departments, and in particular, energy and tax reforms under the current regime.