Year: 2025

Industry Dismisses Government’s Claims of Circular Debt Reduction as New Tariff Hike Looms

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IPPs

ISLAMABAD: Industrial stakeholders have strongly refuted the government’s assertions of curbing circular debt and achieving tariff relief through revised agreements with independent power producers (IPPs) and the incremental consumption package. They stressed that the high cost of electricity continues to cripple industrial competitiveness and demanded further tariff reductions to revive production and exports. After witnessing a temporary decline in the latter half of the previous fiscal year, capacity charges have once again surged. Power distribution companies (DISCOs) have sought the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (Nepra) approval to recover Rs21.7…

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Nepra Warns Circular Debt Will Persist Without Major ReformsPower tariffs to rise by Rs2.30 per unit; govt proposes Rs11 per unit cut for industrial, agricultural users on incremental consumption

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ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) has warned that Pakistan’s chronic circular debt crisis will continue to worsen unless systemic inefficiencies are reduced and recoveries significantly improve. The warning came on Thursday during a public hearing where the regulator reviewed the government’s request to recover an additional Rs8.4 billion from consumers over the next three months — December to February 2026 — through a Quarterly Tariff Adjustment (QTA) for the first quarter of the current fiscal year (July–September). The adjustment would add about 50 paisa per unit to…

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Digital Finance to Accelerate Green Transition

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Asian-bank

Highlighting new initiatives, Mr Aurangzeb announced the establishment of the Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) through an ordinance to oversee crypto and digital assets, alongside the creation of the Pakistan Crypto Council to guide responsible ecosystem development. Formal legislation would follow soon, he said, viewing digital finance as a key catalyst for climate-linked investment. He cited several major financing commitments, including a $1.3 billion climate financing arrangement with the IMF, a $500 million pledge from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the World Bank’s 10-year Country Partnership Framework, expected to…

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Finance Minister Warns of Climate Threats, Calls for Urgent Mobilisation of Green Finance

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Muhammad-Aurangzeb

ISLAMABAD: Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb has issued a stark warning about Pakistan’s economic and environmental future, urging immediate mobilisation of climate finance to counter what he termed as “existential threats to national survival” posed by climate change and rapid population growth. Speaking at a high-level plenary session titled “Mobilising Finance for a Circular, Climate-Resilient South Asia” — held on the third day of the Sustainable Development Conference organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) — Mr Aurangzeb stressed the need for swift adaptation of Pakistan’s fiscal and regulatory systems…

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