Year: 2020

ISLAMABAD: Amid opposition from consultants, experts and key stakeholders, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) will take up on Tuesday a proposal for unbundling of two gas utilities into five smaller companies — one transmission and four provincial distribution firms — on the pattern of ex-Wapda’s 13 generation, transmission and distribution companies. In a summary to the CCoE, the Ministry of Energy’s Petroleum Division (MEPD) has sought approval of five major initiatives as part of its reforms agenda committed with the lending agencies under the IMF programme. Independent consultant KPMG,…

Read More

Joe Biden has won the race to become the next US president, defeating Donald Trump following a cliff-hanger vote count after Tuesday’s election. The BBC projects that Mr Biden has won the key battleground of Pennsylvania, propelling him over the 270 electoral college vote threshold required to clinch the White House. The Trump campaign has indicated their candidate does not plan to concede. Mr Biden said it was now time for America to “unite and heal”. “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric…

Read More

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan may return $2 billion Saudi Arabian loan and is looking for various options to secure more lending aimed at retaining gross official foreign exchange reserves at their current level of over $12 billion, Ministry of Finance sources told The Express Tribune.  The second tranche of $1 billion of Saudi loan is maturing next month and there is likelihood that the government will return the money – two years after the borrowings, the sources added.  The Saudi Arabian financial assistance package, originally estimated at $6.2 billion, had helped the…

Read More

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has removed the governor of the country’s central bank from his post after the lira currency hit record lows, having lost 30% of its value since the start of the year. The decision to replace Murat Uysal as governor was made by presidential decree and announced in the country’s official gazette early on Saturday. It was not immediately clear why Uysal was removed. The lira closed at 8.544 against the US dollar on Friday after a touching record low of 8.58, despite dollar weakness as…

Read More