The Minister of Energy, Awais Leghari, said that a new energy rate policy is expected to be announced soon by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to improve the competitiveness of local industries, according to Pakistan radio.
Speaking in a workshop in Islamabad on Thursday, the minister said that the Government had reduced electricity rates for industrial consumers by more than 30 percent during the past year, with the aim of improving the business environment and supporting economic growth.
Leghari also shared government plans to privatize energy distribution companies, adding that the recent decrease in line losses was an encouraging development.
By highlighting the change towards cleaner energy, the minister said that the government had recently closed 3,000 megawatts of oil -based electric plants, qualifying it from a significant step towards the adoption of renewable energy.
In addition, he announced that around 27,000 agricultural tubes in Baluchistan would become solar energy during the next two or three months, as part of the ongoing efforts to promote sustainable energy solutions in the province.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged Pakistan not to offer additional subsidies to the electricity sector in the next federal budget for fiscal year 2025–26.
Sources said The express trustee that the global lender is pressing the government to empower the Ministry of Energy to take effective measures to stop the accumulation of circular debt.
With the imminent federal budget, the Government has assured the IMF of radical economic reforms, including increases in fuel, electricity and gas prices.
The authorities say that the government plans to implement a series of fiscal measures from July 1, with the aim of reducing the fiscal deficit and addressing the growing debt of the country’s energy sector.
