Families getting free water and power to continue however this will be reviewed based on vaccination rate

The Government will continue to provide free water to households with an annual household income of less than $30,000 for up to 92,500 litres of water.

Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the same goes for access to electricity.

He says for households earning an annual income of less than $30,000, they have been providing a subsidy of 16.34 cents per unit for the 100 kilowatts of power usage.

Effective from 1st August 2021 to 31st January 2022, the Government will pay the full cost of 34.01 cents for approximately 50,000 households at a total cost $11 million.

Sayed-Khaiyum says like almost everything else in this budget, this policy depends on vaccination rates climbing, so it will be reviewed in six months’ time.

He says apart from this, subsidized domestic customers will get six weeks to pay their electricity bill without disconnection.

Non-subsidised domestic customers will get four weeks for their bill payment.

This extended bill payment will be provided for six months from 1st August 2021 to 31st January 2022 before it is reviewed.