Islamabad
Amidst a devastating power crunch in Pakistan, the Pakistan government has decided to gradually revive the stalled International Monetary Fund(IMF) programme by raising the electricity tariffs along with hiking the petrol prices.
The Pakistan government has announced that under the USD 6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) of the IMF programme it is going to raise electricity rates by Rs 7.14 per unit through base price while adjustments are to be made to fuel prices by raising the rates of petrol, reported The News International.
The Pakistan government is planning to increase only petrol prices in the country while it will continue to provide subsidies on diesel. Further, the government is also trying to convince the provincial states to contribute to absorb the fuel cost.
According to a government official, electricity in Pakistan will be increased by Rs 4.79 per unit as the base price while to arrange fuel price adjustments fuel rates will have a surge by another Rs 2.35 per unit, reported The News International.
Reportedly, to curb any other escalation in circular debt, the IMF is demanding an increase of Rs 7.14 per unit.
Further, both Pakistan and the IMF will be holding review talks from Wednesday to renew attempts to reach a staff-level agreement so that the fund s executive board approves the delivery of the next $ 1 billion tranches, reported The News International.
Notably, if the prices remain the same, during the current fiscal year, the Pakistan government would have to bear the cost of about Rs 140 billion till June for a duration of four months.
