Regardless of the intensity of growing public anger against ‘inflated’ electricity bills, the caretaker setup seems to have strongly committed itself, and rightly so, to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stipulations.
Unlike the Senate of Pakistan that has taken a populist approach to the issue, the government led by Anwaarul Haq Kakar appears to be in no mood to capitulate to public outcry in general and the anger of the bodies representing trade and industry in the country in particular.
The caretaker finance minister, Dr Shamshad Akhtar, too, has made it clear, loudly and clearly, that the situation brooks no relaxation because of lack of fiscal space.
Although the hike in fuel prices and electricity tariffs is not a pleasant development, the country’s agreement with the IMF requires the former to strictly adhere to the conditions and raising energy rates is one of these conditions.
We must not lose sight of the fact that the IMF along with some of our friends—China, Saudi Arabia and the UAE—has helped us successfully avert a sovereign default during the fag end of the last government.
The IMF in particular has already released $1.2 billion out of its $3billion Standby Agreement (SBA). The growing uproar over hike in energy prices is interestingly joined in by even those parties that had acquiesced to all the conditionalities the IMF had set forth prior to release of $1.2 billion tranche.
Therefore, the frustration of the interim prime minister is quite understandable. His government must be supported so as to ensure that the country does not renege on the agreement with the IMF at any cost in view of the fact that the consequences of any breach can even go beyond the non-receipt of the remaining $1.8 billion from the Fund. Hence the need for protecting and preserving the Pakistan-IMF deal at least till the arrival of an elected government in the country.
Mohsin Raza,
Lahore
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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