Five export sectors to get power at Rs19.9/unit: Dar

ISLAMABAD: With a tentative schedule of the IMF to kick-start the upcoming review talks with the Pakistani authorities from October 25, Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday announced subsidized electricity tariffs of Rs19.99 per unit for five export-oriented sectors, including textile, till end June 2023.

“Instead of fixing electricity tariff in dollar rate of 9 cents, we have provided a tariff of Rs19.99 per unit till June 2023 for five export-oriented sectors including textiles. The Ministry of Finance will provide a subsidy of Rs90 to Rs100 billion for the current fiscal year 2022-23. We have created a fiscal space so the budget deficit and primary deficit will be taken care of and will not allow exceeding from envisaged targets,” said Federal Minister for Finance Ishaq Dar said in a news conference here.

Flanked by textile tycoons, including Ijaz Gohar and others, Dar said there was no need to take the IMF into confidence because he had worked out fiscal space without hiking the budget or primary deficits.

“Now we have made a request to the businessmen to think in rupees instead of dollars,” he said and added that the rupee started witnessing improvement and he genuinely believed that the real effective rate of the rupee was below Rs200 against the US dollar.

He said the country’s public debt and liabilities decreased by Rs3,600 billion owing to improved exchange rate. Answering a query, Dar said he along with his team will depart for Washington D.C from Monday for attending the annual meeting of the IMF and World Bank.

Later on, he confirmed to The News that the IMF’s review mission planned to hold review talks with Pakistani authorities from October 25, 2022. Dar said it was PMLN-led regime that had introduced market-based exchange rate determined on the basis of real effective exchange rate (REER) after nuclear explosions in 1998.

He said the PTI-led regime devalued the free fall of rupee on the pretext of increasing exports but it went up by just $800 million hiking the debt and liabilities manifold. He recalled that the PMLN-led government had provided an incentive package of Rs180 billion in 2017 after saying goodbye to the IMF and then provided another Rs67 billion during the tenure of former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbasi so the targeted relief of Rs247 billion was provided with the condition that the exports would go up as a result of these incentives.

He said the UK, India and Bangladesh had intervened into the market to protect their currencies. India utilized $100 billion recently but Pakistan did not have sufficient reserves to do the same but speculators would not be allowed to play havoc with it. To another query regarding the PTI’s planned march, Dar said, “Imrando army will not succeed.”