The government has decided to seek the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) approval to redirect the levy collected from captive power plants (CPPs) towards providing relief to electricity consumers.
A proposal to utilize the CPP levy for this purpose has already been cleared, with the matter recently discussed in a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).
During deliberations, the Power Division informed the ECC that while approval of the mechanism was under way, details regarding the transition, calculation, and the scale of consumer benefits would be finalized later.
The Finance Division, however, argued that the levy should be treated as part of the Power Division’s overall budget for the current fiscal year, in line with the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) agreed with the IMF.
The Power Division countered that consumer relief would only be viable if considered over and above the division’s regular budget. The ECC subsequently directed the division to seek clarification from the IMF.
