Govt. assures IMF power tariff enhancement by June

ISLAMABAD: The government in a memo sent to IMF for the second tranche of loan amount assured that the power tariff will be increased on average by 4 percent throughout the country by June 2009. International Monetary Fund (IMF) handout released on its website said this. The government gave this assurance through its memo submitted to IMF on March 16, 2009 for obtaining the second tranche of loan. The government has conveyed its approval to the power distribution companies relating to the enhancement of power tariff for cutting their losses and other operational expenses, in accordance with the earlier approval of the economic coordination committee (ECC). The people already vexed by the electricity load shedding paralyzing their routine life feared that any fresh enhancement in power tariffs would open up a floodgate of price-hikes in the wake of the soaring production costs.