Caretakers rule out relief in power bills

ISLAMABAD: In a reality check following almost week-long consultations, caretaker Finance Minister Dr Shamshad Akhtar on Wednesday told senators and the electricity consumers to “manage (their) expectations” raised by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar for relief in excessive power bills, saying the country’s fiscal space did not permit any subsidy or relief. “Please manage your expectations,” she said apparently after engagements with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over the government’s desire for some programme relaxations to provide relief in power bills. “These are things that were approved long before we came and in order to examine things we need to really reflect on…these are there for decades. How can we change decades-old policies,” she said. Appearing before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue, Dr Akhtar said there had been staff-level discussions with the IMF and she assured the fund that it was the responsibility of the caretakers to fulfil the requirements of the agreements signed by the previous government. The minister said she was not “worried about the IMF” but what bothered her the most was the country’s worst than anticipated economic situation and the pressure on fiscal account did not provide room for subsidies except to protect the most vulnerable through higher social safety nets, like BISP.