Precariously balanced

According to reports, the Lahore High Court has declared Nepra’s fuel adjustment charges to be unlawful and has told the government to provide domestic consumers with a subsidy of up to 500 units per month. This decision could have gone a long way towards easing the people’s energy woes. However, with the country inching closer towards re-entering the IMF programme, the PM has announced an increase in electricity rates, one of the international lender’s key demands.

I suppose we should be glad that our power bills will not rise as sharply as they would have without the LHC’s decision. Our government is walking an economic tightrope; on the one hand we risk falling into an inflation-driven recession while on the other there is insolvency. It will take a lot of skill and wisdom to make it safely to the other side.

Khalida Khalid

Turbat