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Express Tribune
14-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
K-Electric seeks tariff cut by Rs5.02 per unit
Listen to article K-Electric (KE) has requested the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) to reduce power tariff by Rs5.02 per unit (kilowatt-hour – kWh) on account of fuel charges adjustment (FCA) for March 2025. According to documents, KE has submitted a petition and sought tariff reduction by Rs5.02 per unit for its consumers. "KE has requested a provisional negative FCA for March 2025, which has been calculated on the basis of interim reference tariff of March 2023," said the documents. If Nepra grants approval, the KE consumers will receive a relief of Rs6.79 billion. The regulatory authority has scheduled a public hearing for May 22 to deliberate on the private power utility's request for the negative FCA for March 2025. In its plea, KE also urged Nepra to consider an additional adjustment of Rs14.6 billion, pending since July 2023, related to the actualisation of fuel costs, including costs from partial load operations, the open-cycle mode, degradation and the start of its power plants. Nepra has already set aside Rs9.4 billion in FCA decisions for the months of November 2024 to January 2025. KE argued that adjusting the remaining amount now by utilising the negative fuel cost variations for February and March 2025 would prevent an additional financial burden on consumers in the future. According to the documents, Nepra has outlined key issues that will be examined during the upcoming hearing. These include whether the proposed negative FCA for March 2025 is justified, whether KE adhered to the merit order while dispatching electricity from its own power plants and through external power purchases and whether the company's request to adjust the accumulated actual fuel costs, based on technical factors such as partial load operations, open-cycle running, degradation curves and startup costs, is reasonable. The hearing will be conducted at the Nepra Tower and all interested and affected parties have been invited to submit written or oral comments. Relevant documents and determinations are available on the Nepra website.
Express Tribune
21-02-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
$1b climate funding talks with IMF next week
Pakistan had been engaged with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for acquiring the climate fund and expected $1-1.5 billion support from the global lender, Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb told the media persons on Thursday. Talking informally to reporters after a ceremony in Islamabad, the minister revealed that an IMF mission would visit Pakistan on February 24 for discussions on the Climate Fund, while another mission was expected next month for the half-yearly review of the ongoing Extended Fund Facility. "Discussions will be held with the IMF on the climate fund. The IMF mission is expected to provide $1-1.5 billion in the form of the climate funding," the minister said. "A second IMF mission will come to Pakistan in March for a six-month review," he added. IMF's climate funding takes place from its Resilience and Sustainability Trust, which was created in 2022 to provide long-term concessional cash for climate-related spending, such as adaptation and transitioning to cleaner energy. Pakistan made a formal request in October last year for around $1 billion in funding from the IMF under the trust, to address the nation's vulnerability to climate change. According to an announcement, the mission would visit from February 24 to 28 for a "review and discussion" of climate resilience funding. Aurangzeb appeared optimistic about the ongoing IMF programme. "Everything related to the IMF programme is fine," he emphasised. He said that the current account deficit for one month had become negative, but remained positive for seven months period. "The DNA of the economy will be fixed through structural reforms, without this, there is no hope of improving the economy," he said, warning that the growth rate must be increased carefully so that "the boom and bust cycle does not recur". Meanwhile, speaking at a conference on 'Retail Reimagined: Innovate, Collaborate and Thrive', organised by The Pakistan Retail Business Council (PRBC), the minister expressed concern over the retail sector's lack of contribution to the national exchequer. "The retail sector, which contributes a significant 19% to the GDP, is paying a mere 1% in taxes," he said, adding that the government had been engaging with the retail sector, requesting them to formalise their businesses and pay their due share of taxes. He warned that the disproportionate burden of taxes on the manufacturing, services industry, and salaried class was unsustainable. "We need to bring other segments into the tax net," he added. "For national interest, we cannot afford to have people taking a free ride anymore." He said that a major overhaul of the taxation system was under way, with the focus on end-to-end digitisation to promote transparency, reduce leakage, and combat corruption. "This streamlined [faceless customs] process has eliminated the money culture, fostering a more efficient tax authority." He said, there has been Rs9.4 trillion in cash circulation, which needed to be brought into the formal economy. He acknowledged that this could not be done overnight, however, the government was determined to move in the right direction. In his speech the minister highlighted that the economy had taken a significant turn for the better, with macroeconomic stability firmly in place as currency stabilised, foreign exchange reserves increased and inflation receded and the policy rate decreasing significantly, with Kibor receding from 23% to 11%. "These positive developments have not gone unnoticed, as foreign investors are once again taking notice of Pakistan's economic potential. Institutional flows are returning to the country, with investments pouring in on both the debt and equity sides," Aurangzeb said.
