Day: April 18, 2020

ISLAMABAD: The independent power producers (IPPs), the major stakeholders in power generation, have written a letter to federal minister for energy Omar Ayub Khan, strongly condemning Muhammad Ali, head of the government’s committee for power sector audit, circular debt resolution and future roadmap over his alleged unprecedented bias. The letter stated that Ali expressed his unjust bias against IPPs on media, despite his past was known to everyone, and his appointment as head of the government’s committee has not only stigmatised the entire process but also made the report questionable.…

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ISLAMABAD: The head of legal department of Priv­ate Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB), Barrister Asghar Khan, tendered his resignation on Monday after developing differences over issues relating to payment of capacity charges worth billions of rupees to independent power producers and transactions about new power projects on coal and liquefied natural gas. According to sources, Barrister Khan had written a series of dissenting notes on the new power policy, processing of new coal- and LNG-based projects and ‘undue favours’ to IPPs. An official confirmed that Mr Khan had submitted his…

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Commercial creditors need to support debt relief for the poorest countries and cannot just “free ride” on a suspension in debt payments by official bilateral creditors, World Bank President David Malpass said on Friday. Malpass told the World Bank’s Development Committee that the debt relief initiative agreed this week by the Group of 20 economies and the Paris Club was a “huge achievement” to help the poorest countries deal with the health and economic impact of the new coronavirus pandemic. He said the bank would look at ways of further…

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ISLAMABAD:  Pakistan’s public debt may rise to 90% of national economy or Rs37.7 trillion by June this year and its balance of payments situation may worsen due to severe health and economic shocks in the aftermath of the deadly pandemic, a new International Monetary Fund (IMF) report reveals. In its report, the IMF has disclosed that Pakistan will have to increase its collection of petroleum levy by 65% to Rs489 billion and tax collection by 31% to Rs5.1 trillion in the next fiscal year, if the country is keen to…

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The African Union Commission (AUC) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) have agreed to work closely to advance renewable energy across the continent to bolster Africa’s response to Covid-19. The two organisations will focus on innovative solutions to drive the development of renewable energy including decentralised systems, and to increase access to energy across the continent. The cooperation aims to bolster Africa’s response to the pandemic by, inter alia, improving the ability of rural health centres and communities to deal with the health challenge using renewable energy to power…

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