Govt seeks hike in power tariff to salvage IMF package

Islamabad: In a bid to remain in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, the government on Thursday sought the federal cabinet’s approval to increase electricity tariff by Rs0.95 per unit. 

According to details, the IMF asked Pakistan to increase electricity prices in order to align energy tariffs with cost recovery.

The notification of the surge will be issued after approval from federal government. 

The regulator has decided to increase price by 8 paisa for consumers who use less than 100 units while 18 paisa increase for 101-200 unit users.

Moreover, users consuming 201-300 will be charged additional Rs0.48 per unit while for 301-700 unit slab the power tariff will increase by 95 paisa. 

On February 28, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government announced the slashing of the price electricity tariff by PKR 5 per unit and petroleum products by PKR 10 per litre as a part of a series of measures to bring some relief to the public. 

In the meantime, Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund are scheduled to hold review talks this week whereby both sides will discuss the merits of relief package—announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan for reducing the Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL) and electricity prices.