Day: December 13, 2021

KP Traders Reject Fresh Increase in Power Tariff

Admin

Local traders have rejected the increase in power tariffs by Rs4.74 per unit, terming the government decision wasn’t in the best interest of business and industries growth, which should be withdrawn immediately. The traders’ community while speaking at a meeting here on Sunday attributed the increase in power tariff to the escalated cost of industrial production owing to frequent increase in rates of electricity and gas. Subsequently, the business community expressed fear that the prices of manufacturing products would also move toward an upward trajectory, which could directly affect the…

Read More

Trade deficit — the worst is almost over

Admin

There’s bad news. The trade deficit has gotten out of hand. But there’s good news too. The deficit has peaked and it is expected to shrink in the second half of the fiscal year, between January and June 2022. The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics says imports in July-Nov 2021 surged 69 per cent year-on-year to $32.934 billion. But export earnings totalled $12.344bn, despite about 27pc yearly growth. This produced a huge trade deficit of $20.59bn, about 112pc higher than the July-Nov 2020 deficit of $9.724bn. This meteoric rise in the…

Read More

Petrol, diesel output can be raised by 50-60pc, say experts

Admin
petrol

The domestic production of high-speed diesel (HSD) and petrol could potentially go up by 60 per cent and 48pc, respectively, leading to a significant foreign exchange saving provided the local refineries operated at optimum capacity. The oil import bill, particularly of refined petroleum products, has been the largest chunk of about 83pc increase in imports in the first five months (July to November) of the current fiscal year, causing unrest among the government’s ranks, as money and share markets nosedived with the start of this month. Adviser to the Prime…

Read More

SNGPL to Launch Campaign Against Use of Compressors

Admin

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Rawalpindi Region would launch a campaign to check the use of compressors. According to a SNGPL spokesman, the consumers of some localities were facing low gas pressure due to severe cold weather for some days. “SNGPL is trying to utilize all available resources to increase the gas pressure,” he claimed. To a question he said that SNGPL had issued a warning to the citizens against installing and using compressors, declaring them illegal and hazardous. He said that the teams would go door-to-door to ensure…

Read More

Energy Reforms

Admin

PAKISTAN’S energy sector is in a total mess, riddled with shortages, inefficiencies, massive debt, dependence on imported fossil fuels etc. We have consolidated different energy-related ministries and institutions under one ministry but failed to develop a comprehensive and integrated policy for ensuring national energy security. The lack of a well-defined national energy strategy also means the absence of a proper mechanism for coordination among different entities, which mostly work in silos and often in opposite directions. Thus, the government has never been able to do more than firefight at times…

Read More