ISLAMABAD: The PMLN-led coalition government has decided to comply with the demands made by International Monetary Fund (IMF) and raise power tariff by as much as Rs. 7.91 per unit under the head of account of ‘quarterly adjustments’.
This came just a day after the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved the proposal to recover Rs. 76 billion while exempting non-ToU domestic consumers having consumption equal to 300 units and private agriculture consumers in four months period from March 2023 to June 2023 to recover the markup charges of PHL loans and allowed to impose the additional surcharge of Rs. 1/unit for FY 2023-24 to recover additional markup charges of PHL loans not covered through the already applicable FC surcharge.
Also read: ECC okays surcharge to recover Rs.76 Bn from power consumers
According to multiple media reports, ran by mainstream news channels, the federal government presented a circular debt management plan to IMF officials during their recent stay in Pakistan, under which the electricity tariff would be raised by by Rs7.91 per unit in four quarterly adjustments – Feb-March 2023, March-May 2023 June-Aug and September-November.
According to the circular debt management plan, the government will start charging Rs3.21 per unit from now on, increasing by 69 paisa from March to May and by Rs1.64 from June to August 2023. The government would increase the cost of electricity by Rs1.98 per unit between September and November.
The consumer base tariff will be increased from Rs15.28 per unit in June 2022 to Rs23.39 per unit till June 2023, while the government also gave its approval for the exporters to stop receiving the Rs 65 billion in electricity subsidies starting in March 2023.
