Didn’t the PM assure otherwise?
How does NEPRA’s half-a-rupee power tariff rise make the prime minister look just one week after his directions to maintain electricity prices? Since NEPRA was then overruled precisely because of such tariff hikes and their social and political fallout, surely Nawaz Sharif realises what sort of jabs he, and his finance team, are going to face in the days to come. What about the very recent promise (last week, again) that the government was making “all-out efforts to absorb the impact of higher tariffs”? If all-out meant caving in (finally) to public/political pressure then looking the other way and be proved wrong, then industry and households should brace for a very challenging power tariff environment for some time to come. And since this particular upward revision was on account of fuel price adjustment – at a time when falling oil price is upsetting financial and political behemoths across the world – someone should also explain just why fuel is adding to the electricity price at home.
Most people remember, even if the ruling party forgets, that the N-league ran the election campaign primarily on ending load-shedding and associated evils and, in the previous half-decade, hounded the PPP government for its mistakes, and excesses, in the power sector. If that is yesterday’s news, then perhaps a sober reminder about the circular debt might cause some embarrassment in the corridors of power in Islamabad. The story behind the unaudited half-a-trillion rupees that were supposed to end the circular debt once is still shrouded in mystery. As is the circular debt itself, which ballooned in record time again, with barely a whimper from relevant ministries or the prime minister’s office. At the end of the day, accusations that the funds were eventually parked in a few exclusive bank accounts were never seriously refuted.
Even now, as the power problem spirals further out of control, the government’s policy seems misplaced. There is a mad rush for capacity building, big power plants and huge infrastructure projects. That such initiatives do not help is not surprising, since we have the necessary production capability, but for some reason are unable to manage the money flow, hence the circular debt problem. Signing off big projects may serve advertisement purposes, but the government will need the people’s stamp of approval eventually. And people, without electricity and with increasing bills, do not find the present situation very heartening. As the prime minister shuffles his cabinet, he is advised to revisit the power policy also, and avoid making promises he cannot, or does not intend to, keep.