Pakistan has accepted to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) condition to abolish subsidy on the energy sector on Thursday. Quoting its sources, the channel reported that the IMF had also set the condition of timely issuance of the notification of annual tariff adjustment. Sources disclosed that both sides also agreed on speeding up the collection of electricity bills. Besides that, they revealed, Pakistan and the Fund had agreed on presenting a plan for abolishing the subsidy the government had offered on tube wells.   The international money lending organization, they elaborated, had also demanded the government to eliminate circular debt in the gas sector. Sources further said that the IMF had also demanded the issuance of a notification for an increase in gas prices on June 1 besides stopping gas supply to captive power plants at cheaper rates during the ongoing year. The Fund, they elaborated, had not only urged the government to supply gas to all fertilizer plants in the country at the same rate but also to other industries across the country.

The negotiations between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the 24th ‘longer and larger’ bailout programme had kicked off on Monday. Pakistani side, led by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, comprised Governor State Bank of Pakistan Jameel Ahmed, Federal Board of Revenue Chai­rman Amjed Zubair Tiwana and their respective teams while the IMF’s mission was led by their chief to Pakistan Nathan Porter. “The finance minister welcomed the IMF team and thanked them for the successful completion of the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA),” said a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance. He also updated the IMF team about “The improvement in the macroeconomic indicators over the course of the SBA and underscored the government’s commitment to continue with and expand upon the reform agenda”.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan