Category: Highlights

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Energy Muhammad Hammad Azhar on Wednesday took detailed briefing on matters relating to Power Sector. The Federal Minister was apprised on the current stock of circular debt which stood at Rs. 2300 billion approximately. Power Division has devised monthly circular debt reporting which also indicated different factors contributing in its build up, said a press release. The Federal Minister was also briefed about the ongoing development projects under the organisations of Power Division. These included major transmission and distribution improvement projects. The minister was apprised that…

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Libya declared force majeure on exports from the port of Hariga and said it could extend the measure to other facilities, citing a budget dispute. Hariga is scheduled to load about 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April. Brent crude was up 35 cents, or 0.5%, at $67.40 a barrel by 1335 GMT after hitting its highest since March 18 at $68.08. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 17 cents, or 0.3%, to $63.55. “Follow-through buying is pushing prices up further,” said Tamas Varga at oil broker PVM. “But…

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The World Bank in its recent report states that Pakistan’s potential annual exports are $88.1 billion, about four times the current level. The opportunity cost of these missing exports is estimated at “893,000 jobs and $ 1.74 billion in foregone taxes alone, of which 152,000 jobs could have been created in the agriculture export sector, and 741,000 jobs could have been created in the manufacturing export sector.” However, neglecting this potential by seeking short-term economic fixes, raising the cost of doing business, and making procedures unnecessarily bureaucratic has retarded any…

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Federal Minister for Energy, Hammad Azhar has formally taken over charge of Ministry of Energy. Secretary Power Division, Ali Raza Bhutta and senior officers of the Ministry welcomed the newly appointed minister on his arrival to the Ministry. Secretary Power Division briefed the Minister about the power sector related affairs, different sections of Power Division and attached departments and organisations. Power sector is the most unfixed and challenging sector. Hammad Azhar, who remained in Finance Ministry for two weeks, before joining Ministry of Energy will take individual briefings from each…

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The government on Tuesday sought more time from the World Bank to implement its conditions for qualifying for $1.5 billion loans to meet the burgeoning external financing needs, sources told The Express Tribune. Pakistan is seeking three budget support loans, totalling $1.5 billion, from the World Bank before the end of June, they said, adding that the World Bank had set May 10th deadline to implement the conditions for the loans approval. Finance Ministry officials said that Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin held a virtual meeting with Axel van Trotsenburg, the…

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