Credit to private sector spikes 12% to Rs6.82tr

The banks’ credit to the private sector jumped 12% to a total of Rs6.82 trillion in the previous fiscal year (FY21), as a number of sectors- including those which got government’s support and those that played a key role in turning the economy around- borrowed more during the year. The credit increased by Rs741 billion from FY20’s level of Rs6.08 trillion, according to the data reported by Pakistan’s central bank on Friday. “The percentage of banks’ credit to the private sector grew in double digits in FY21 compared to annual…

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Stronger private sector to realise true economic potential

President SAARC chamber of commerce and Industry Iftikhar Ali Malik Sunday said that a stronger private sector could help Pakistan realise its economic potential. Talking to a 20-member traders delegation led by Zafar Bakhtawari Secretary General United Business Group in the federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry here, he said that only private sector plays key role in pushing economic growth upward, generating job opportunities, providing oxygen to domestic industry besides boosting export in addition to promotion of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). He said Pakistan has…

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Carbon-Neutral LNG: Another Reason Why Natural Gas Could Win ‘The Energy Transition

Now at 375 Bcf/d, the reality of the world’s energy situation is that natural gas demand is set to grow substantially in the years ahead. Any serious low-carbon outlook has gas as a foundational resource. Experts at McKinsey model “resilient” gas demand through 2050, even in an accelerated transition scenario to meet climate change goals. The world is simply too poor, too fast-growing, and too energy-starved for this not to be true: more practically, the U.S. Department of Energy forecasts a 40-45% jump in global gas consumption. The International Energy…

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Russia to build first LNG-powered icebreakers for Arctic sea route

Russia plans to build its first batch of icebreakers that are powered by liquified natural gas, a top official said on Friday, returning to an idea that was put on hold. Russia has the world’s only fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. It is building up that fleet, hoping to develop the Northern Sea Route across its northern flank into an international shipping lane as climate change melts the ice. “We are now returning to this topic (building LNG-powered icebreakers). I think that by the end of the year we will decide…

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G20 Environment Ministers: No Consensus on Phasing Out Coal

The U.S. UK and other countries want world governments to commit to a phaseout of the use and financing of coal-fired power generation, but officials who met at the G20 Environment Ministers Meeting summit in Naples, Italy, this past week ended their talks without an agreement on the future of the fuel. The topic will come up again at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland, later this year. The talks in Italy, which ended July 23, showed the difficulty among developed nations…

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