The government has decided to introduce automatic electric tariff increases, whereby the annual adjustments will be tied to the six-monthly consumer price index (CPI) published by the central bank. The resulting annual increase could be as high as five percent each year. The decision is in line with an Asian Development Bank conditionality that requires immediate tariff increases and a mechanism to tie tariffs to the CPI to be allowed to use the Rs 3.5 billion loan for rural electrification approved by the bank last year.