The rupee has stabled to a ‘great extent’ after anti-smuggling efforts, interim Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar said on Friday.
“Over the past few days, the government reformed the exchange companies and because of these reform measures and due to anti-smuggling efforts our rupee has stabled to a great extent,” she told a press conference in Islamabad. “This stability has come without any intervention of any bank intervention.”
At the start of the presser, Akhtar said that there were “some signs” of economic recovery “even if they were just starting”.
The caretaker finance minister said that the Consumer Price Index had shown a decline from May figures, down from 38% to 27%.
Stagger quarterly adjustments in power billsPower Minister Muhammad Ali said the government has decided to stagger quarterly adjustments — spread over more than three months — in power bills to provide relief to consumers. Similar relief measures would also be provided in the payment of the base electricity tariff in Karachi.
Ali highlighted that the government was also working on changing the boards of directors of power distribution companies (DISCOs) as he stressed the need to improve their management and governance in order to have a permanent solution. “We have started working on the boards of DISCOs and even change their CEOs.”
He shared that the government was considering three options to improve the performance of DISCOs – including working with the World Bank for long-term concession agreements and giving it to the private sector, giving to provinces, and privatisation.
