Pakistan agrees to IMF’s condition of raising electricity tariff

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has agreed to the International Monetary Fund’s condition to raise the electricity rates, sources informed on Tuesday.

According to sources, out of the four major points in the bailout package, Pakistan and the IMF have come to agreement on two of them.

Pakistan has not agreed to the IMF’s demand about the revenue gathering targets, sources said.

Pakistan put forth its stance saying that the current year the tax collection target will not be raised from Rs4400 billion. Sources said that the IMF had asked Pakistan to raise the target to Rs4700 billion.

Pakistan has also turned down the demand to raise the interest rate up to 13 per cent on bank loans, saying that it could be detrimental to its economy.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has said it will continue its policy to control currency value, to which the IMF agreed, said the sources.

Pakistan is awaiting a response from the IMF, as a delegation will likely visit the country in the first week of January. In case the delegation cannot pay a visit to Pakistan, negotiation will take place through a video conference.