The federal government has ended an electricity bill subsidy for agricultural consumers in order to meet the conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to restart the loan programme.
A notification issued by the Power Division states the “Federal Cabinet […] has approved the Discontinuation of Kissan Package for base rate relief of Rs3.60/kWh to private agriculture consumers from 1st March 2023”.
Last October, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced the Kissan Package to assist farmers in recovering from massive floods that ravaged the country. The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) implemented a power subsidy of Rs3.60 per unit at the base tariff in December of last year. The base rate was reduced to Rs13 per unit from the previous full price of Rs16.60.
The subsidy, however, was withdrawn two months after it was implemented due to the South Asian country’s economic crisis and depletion of foreign exchange reserves.
