Fuel adjustments in electricity bills: Deferment approved under govt relief package

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has approved the deferment of monthly and quarterly fuel adjustments in the electricity bills for power consumers for the next three months (till June 2020) under the government relief package.

The ECC meeting chaired by adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh approved the deferment of monthly and quarterly fuel adjustments on electricity, the whole exercise, would have a total impact of Rs151 billion on the government, according to the Finance Division.

On another proposal moved by the Power Division for funding to the power sector from the economic relief package for mitigating the effect of shortfall in the recoveries due to reduced demand of energy and late recoveries amid COVID-19 outbreak, the ECC set up a committee constituting secretary Finance, secretary Power and Adviser to Prime Minister on Austerity and Institutional Reforms to see the impact of slowdown of economic activity on the power sector and firm up the terms of references (TORs) and a mechanism that will assist in providing relief to the sector.

The meeting was informed that funds are required for covering up the fixed costs of the sector.

The meeting also approved the appointment of valuator for Pakistan Energy Sukuk phase-II (Rs200 billion) as the company had already done an extensive exercise of valuation of multiple government assets and referred the request of Power Division for a syndicated term finance facility of Rs100 billion to secretary Finance and chairman PPRA for facilitation on the matter.

The ECC also approved for making managing director SNGPL a member of price negotiation committee for the TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran) Gas Pipeline.

The ECC, in order to cover up the losses incurred by the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and the oil sector due to devaluation of Pakistani rupee agreed, in principle, to a maximum of 60 days period for the adjustment of exchange gain or loss from March 1, 2020, and directed the Power Division to resolve the issue in consultation with the Finance Division.

On the proposal sent by the Ministry of Energy regarding liquidity requirements of the PSO, which has huge outstanding receivables from various government sector organisations and was experiencing slow recoveries due to the ongoing pandemic, the ECC directed secretary Finance to consult Power Division and help in retirement of some of the liabilities of the PSO for running its business in this difficult situation.

On the proposal moved by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, the ECC approved the KPT Board Resolution for extension in existing free period from five working days to 15 working days for cargo/containers landing with effect from March 25, 2020, till April 30, 2020.

The ECC also approved four technical supplementary grants for the current financial year, which included: (i) Rs160 million for the Federal Public Service Commission amounting to; (ii) Rs1,700 million for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals Programme; (iii) Rs11,483 million for Special Security Division (SSD) (South) Phase-I; and (iv) Rs468.212 million for Special Communication Organization (SCO).