January 7 - 2021 KHARTOUM
(File Photo)
Yesterday, Minister of Energy and Mining Kheiri Abdelrahman attributed the significant increase in power tariffs to the need to cover the deficit in finances concerning electricity provision.
The deficit now amounts to roughly 60 per cent of the budget because of the soaring annual inflation and the unprecented 700 per cent increase in salaries of government employees last year, he explained in a press statement yesterday.
The Minister, however, emphasised that the tariffs increase has been imposed “in a balanced way” and will not affect “the simple consumer, farming areas, and the pharmaceutical industry”.
He explained that roughly 70 per cent of the provided electricity is subsidised, which should cover an estimated 40 per cent of the consumers in Sudan.
January 7, 2021 at 10:32 am | Published in: Africa, News, Sudan
The Sudanese Electricity Transmission company in Khartoum, on 20 June 2019 [YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images] January 7, 2021 at 10:32 am
Increasing electricity tariffs was the alternative on offer to the country s finance ministry to cover domestic electricity demands, Sudanese Energy Minister, Khairy Abdel Rahman, announced yesterday. Electricity subsidy cuts are designed to consider vulnerable social segments, as well as basic industries, Abdel Rahman said in a statement, adding that electricity subsidies would remain at their previous rates for places of worship, pharmacies and agricultural lands.
He pointed out that the decision was as a result of an increase in the country s annual inflation and public salaries last year, noting that the old tariff system was hindering foreign investments in the electricity field.