IMF shoots down plan to cut power tariffs, for now

A substantial reduction in electricity tariffs, promised by the government, could not get past the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which is currently holding back a staff-level agreement (SLA) on the first biannual review of the $7bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF). It was widely reported in the media through official leaks that the prime minister would announce a Rs8 per unit reduction in electricity rates in his speech to the nation on March 23. The prime minister, however, did not announce any such relief package in his Pakistan Day speech. Instead, he presided over a meeting on the power sector in light of the last-minute hiccup. The meeting, also attended by Awais Leghari, Ahad Cheema, and Muhammad Ali — the ministers for power, economic affairs, and privatisation, respectively — PM’s special assistant Tauqeer Shah, and other officials reviewed the power sector issues, a statement issued after the meeting said.