Pakistan
Government decides not to hike electricity rates for now
Islamabad: Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan for Finance Dr Waqar Masood has said that the increase in electricity prices has been postponed for the time being and the salaries of employees will be increased in the next budget.
Dr Waqar Masood in a briefing to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance said that the proposal to reduce the sales tax was being considered.
He told that the finance minister is proposing a reward scheme on sales tax which will benefit the buyer.
Dr Waqar Masood said that the current junta has told the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that the circular debt will not be increase this year while the remaining conditions of the fund would be fulfilled.
He added that: “Government is working with the IMF on the budget for the new fiscal year to be presented soon.”
Earlier, on May 21 the Federal Government approved to increase the electricity rate by Rs1.72 per unit.
Federal Cabinet approved the summary through a circular in which the government has decided to increase the electricity price in three different quarterly adjustments.
The increase in electricity prices will be implemented from October 2021, sources said.
According to the details, the rates were increased to generate about Rs 6.9 billion additional revenue.
Earlier, in a statement by NEPRA, it was revealed that running power plants outside the merit order had imposed an additional burden of Rs 3.90 billion on consumers.
The officials said that the increase in the cost of power generation was due to the unavailability of gas.