ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced on Thursday a 7 rupee and 15 paisa per unit cut in the domestic electricity price and Rs7.69 per unit cut in the industrial consumer electricity price, with more reductions to follow soon as a result of structural reforms in the production and distribution of electricity.
At a ceremony to announce this reform to Pakistanis, the PM said, “In June 2024 the per unit price for industrial sector was Rs 58.5, which was first reduced by Rs10.3 and then by another Rs7.69 now,”
He said the tariff cuts would help industrialists produce cheaper and more competitive products, as would a curb on power theft which amounted to approximately Rs 600 billion per year.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his government was not considering privatizing or commercializing Power Distribution Companies (DISCOs) but instead would reform electricity production and consumption as soon as possible, while he praised his government’s task force for persuading the IMF to allow a reduction in power tariffs in light of the task force’s power reforms.
The PM said his government hadn’t passed down low international petroleum prices to the people, to ensure that the government could reduce the power tariffs to which the IMF agreed, while the IMF’s trust that was breached in 2020 was now being restored.
He said the government task force lead by successfully negotiated with the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), and praised the government team led by Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari making the substantial electricity tariff cuts possible, saving Rs3,696 billion that would otherwise have to be paid to the IPPs.
He added that his government had also made arrangements to gradually but permanently resolve Pakistan’s Rs2,393 billion circular debt problem within five years, all of which was being made possible by his leader and PML-N president Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N government’s allied political parties’ leadership.
The prime minister said these reforms were a far cry from the conditions when he took charge as prime minister, when Pakistan was on the verge of default and big business feared for Pakistan’s future.
Takisng a cloaked dig at the previous government of the Pakistan Tehreeke Insaaf (PTI) led by Imran Khan, he said “elements who were responsible for all that was wrong 9in Pakistan) were gleeful to see Pakistan going into default by breaching its own agreement with the IMF.
Prime Minister Sharif showered praise on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir for playing a key role in steering Pakistan on the path to macroeconomic stability.
