Water and Power Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has apologized to the people of Pakistan for the electricity crisis which is aggravating day by day and prompting widespread protests. The implementation of the raise in power tariff has been deferred and a parliamentary committee headed by Ashraf has been formed to challenge the calculations of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). A parliamentary committee held its first meeting Friday on the issue. Ashraf said there were some doubts about NEPRA's performance as an independent body to determine the tariff for the power distribution companies and that was why the parliamentary committee has been formed. The minister asked the consumers not to pay their electricity bills until the committee reached a decision. No surcharge would be taken from them for late payment, he said. Meanwhile, Pakistan will have to cut its defense budget by 30 percent in the next four years if it agrees to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions for a bailout package now being discussed in Dubai between the two sides, said a news report. Under extremely tough conditions, Pakistan would get $9.6 billion from the IMF during the next three years at a mark-up rate of 16.7 percent per annum, according to a report carried by the English language daily The News. Pakistan would furnish to the IMF 48 hours before signing the funding agreement details of all loans it would get under the bilateral and multilateral arrangements. __
