The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rejected Pakistan’s repeated suggestions to provide subsidized electricity to Bitcoin
mining and other energy -intensive industries, according to reports.
Secretary of Power Dr. Fakhray Alam Irfan said the IMF was concerned about market distortions in a session with the senate’s standing power committee on Thursday.
The government had planned to award 2,000 megawatts from its 7,000 MW electricity surplus for crypto mining with a price of 23-24 Pakistani Rupie ($ 0.08) per. kilowatt-time (kwh). However, the IMF did not remain convinced and warned that such incentives are similar to tax holidays that often undermine the efficiency of the market.
The IMF questioned how the government would transfer the subsidized electricity back to market prices and argued that similar concessions had not delivered results in the past.
Originally beaten in September 2024 as a six-month marginal cost-star riff package, the plan was scaled back to three months during the IMF pressure. A follow -up targeted subsidy proposal in November was also rejected.
Dr. Irfan added that the government was still in conversations with international institutions to refine the plan.
Pakistan’s government revealed plans to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and support BTC mining in May inspired by President Donald Trump’s Administration in the United States
The country’s Prime Minister for Blockchain and Crypto quoted the opportunities to give the 100 million unkind Pakistanis tools to save and invest as a motivation for the government’s plans.
“We want them to break their economic classes. And I really think Krypto and Blockchain can help us take that quantum jump,” Bin Saqib said at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas.
Read more: Pakistan engages Michael Saylor in bold against Bitcoin-supported finances
