IMF Angry With Pakistan for Not Announcing Gas Rates Twice a Year

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) isn’t happy with Pakistan’s failure to notify new gas rates every six months in a financial year. The IMF Mission during the ongoing first review of Islamabad’s $3 billion Standby Arrangement urged the caretaker government to impose biannual gas rate hikes to ease gas circular debt which had increased significantly since 2013. The IMF was briefed that the caretaker government had increased gas tariffs effective November 1, 2023. Officials said this will generate Rs. 980 billion in revenue in eight months and the government may skip increasing gas rates due from January 2024 onwards. According to the Fund, the previous government postponed raising gas prices due to political reasons, and the current caretaker regime must come up with a substantial increase to control the gas sector’s revolving debt which now stands at Rs. 2.9 trillion. Meanwhile, the lender also met with OGRA and inquired why the regulator had not notified the gas tariffs after a 40-day interval. The Fund was informed that the regulator can’t do it without mandatory instructions from the government.