Govt hikes power tariff from Nov 1

ISLAMABAD: The government has hiked the power tariff by two percent and the new tariff will go take effect from first day of November, Geo News reported Monday.

A notification in this regard has been issued. Under the notification, the power has been made expensive by two percent from November 1st.

Pakistan is bound under International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal, to augment power tariffs by two percent every month till June 2011. Power has gone up about 60 percent during the last two years; but, deficit in power sector is not seen whittled down.

IMF authorities said that recovering electricity charges was essential to bridging the growing gap of Rs 250 billion between power supplied and charges recovered through utility bills.

Increasing power tariff by 2 percent at the start of each month would help reach a 16 percent increase.