Year: 2023

Advancing Pakistan’s EV Policy

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Electric-bikes

Earlier this month, the government of Punjab declared a smog emergency. A few days later, the Lahore High Court ordered school and office closures twice a week to mitigate smog in the largest city of Punjab. According to a 2018 study, air pollution comes from vehicular emissions, industry and agriculture through crop burning.The electric vehicle revolution Globally, the electric vehicle (EV) revolution is accelerating, driven by environmental concerns and advancements in automotive technology. Yet, Pakistan’s advancement to the shift remains tepid. This is proven by the low EV adoption rate…

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The fallacy of competitive energy rates

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Chinese-power

Subsidisation of inefficiency fosters rent-seeking behaviour, impedes capital flow into efficient sectors such as IT ISLAMABAD: The interim government, in its recent policy move, opted to increase gas prices while rejecting the idea of eliminating subsidies for exporters. Export subsidies have been a contentious and enduring issue in Pakistan’s economic landscape for a considerable span of time. The government’s tendency to extend these subsidies to the export sector, often dressed in the attire of tax relief and discounted energy price, has been a matter of some debate. Advocates, including notable…

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OPEC and IEA at odds on future of oil demand

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fuel-oil

Despite the International Energy Agency (IEA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development energy watchdog, continuing to emphasise, and in no uncertain terms, that the era of oil demand growth is coming to an end, what is making Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the Saudi petroleum minister, so ebullient and convinced that the global crude demand will continue to grow in the decades to come? The International Energy Agency is strongly of the view that global oil demand growth is slowing down. And that by 2030, at the latest, global energy…

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Govt urged to revive five-year development planning

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IMF-board

ISLAMABAD: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised Pakistan to revive its five-year development planning, get climate-sensitive public investment management plans working and publish criteria for project appraisals for transparency to attract global climate financing. The IMF’s guidance comes immediately after the two sides reached a staff-level agreement on the first review of a $3 billion bailout, followed by a public announcement by caretaker Finance Minis­ter Dr Shamshad Akhtar to postpone a conventional $1.5bn Eurobond issue this year and the potential need for a longer-term IMF loan deal soon after the February…

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PSA reaffirmed its resolve to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with govt to achieve its ambitious clean energy plans

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The Pakistan Solar Association (PSA) has reaffirmed its commitment to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the government in achieving its ambitious clean energy targets by the year 2030 for cutting the carbon footprint of the power sector and saving precious foreign exchange reserves otherwise spent on the import of highly expensive fossil fuel for electricity production.The PSA leadership assured the fullest support to the government’s drive to produce up to 60 per cent of electricity in the country through renewable energy means at an event titled “Let’s grow together”.The PSA leaders said…

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