ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Thursday rejected the Ministry of Energy’s proposed 3-year marginal energy package for industries.
According to sources, officials from the Ministry of Energy failed to convince the IMF on the marginal energy package. In the next round of economic review talks, a revised package with new proposals will be presented.
Sources also revealed that the proposed energy package, based on marginal cost, was intended for AI, data mining, and industrial sectors for a period of three years. The package was designed in light of the country currently having 8,000 megawatts of surplus electricity. A proposal was made to reduce taxes on electricity used beyond the regular consumption.
According to sources, the IMF did not approve the package due to the Ministry of Energy’s inability to achieve 100% recovery (of dues). Under the proposed plan, only the production cost and capacity charges would apply to the additional electricity usage, while all other charges including taxes were proposed to be waived.
Sources said the IMF has linked the approval of the marginal energy package with achieving 100% recovery.
