Day: April 10, 2020

Pakistan Business Council (PBC) has recommended further reduction in the Policy Rate from the current 11 percent to 7 percent in order to boost economic activities in the backdrop of ailing economy because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In its latest report ‘COVID-19 Crisis: Business Response & How to Sustain Employment in Pakistan’ issued here on Thursday, the business advocacy body has highlighted the role that business is playing to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and outlined the way forward to sustain employment. PBC has recommended reduction in…

Read More

ISLAMABAD:  The government is moving to place coal pricing within the purview of Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) as it plans to revisit the imported coal supply agreement in a bid to cut prices. Currently, pricing of petroleum products, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) falls within the domain of Ogra and coal pricing would be a new addition for the regulator. At present, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) approves the coal supply agreement and determines the fuel cost component based on current coal…

Read More

ISLAMABAD: The federal government reacted strongly to a law proposed by the Sindh government to provide economic relief to its people and warned the provincial government not to trespass the centre’s domain. An official said the provincial government had proposed an ordinance to waive full electricity bills with monthly consumption of less than 260 units and for gradual discount for higher consumption to provide relief to consumers within its service territories. Two distribution companies owned by the federal government, namely Sukkur Electric Supply Company and Hyderabad Electric Supply Company, besides…

Read More

DUBAI: Opec and it allies held talks on Thursday on record oil output curbs of 15 million to 20m barrels per day (bpd), or 15 to 20 per cent of global supplies, to support prices hammered by the coronavirus crisis, Opec and Russian sources said. They said the cuts included contributions of up to 5m bpd from producers outside their group known as Opec+ and could be made gradually, potentially overcoming resistance from the United States, whose involvement is seen as vital to win broad backing for an agreement. Talks…

Read More

ISLAMABAD: A special meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Thursday cleared a cumulative bailout package of almost Rs300 billion for the power sector to settle immediate liabilities besides allowing compensation against foreign exchange loss to oil marketing companies (OMCs). The ECC also approved a board resolution of the Karachi Port Trust for extension in the existing free period from five working days to 15 working days for cargo/containers landing with effect from March to April 30. Under the power sector bailout package, about Rs200bn Islamic…

Read More