Category: Recent Post

Some of the major fiscal and external sector economic indicators of Pakistan deteriorated in the first half of current fiscal year, but authorities believe that economic recovery will still continue, albeit, at a slower pace. The finance ministry on Tuesday released its monthly Economic Updates and Outlook report for January. The ministry used a mix of five and six-month indicators. The monthly bulletin showed that Pakistan’s budget deficit widened over 21% in absolute terms, exports decreased 4.8%, foreign investment dipped 72% and agriculture sector credit shrank 2.4%. On the other…

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ISLAMABAD: After an exercise of around six months, an energy audit of inefficient power plants has come to a halt as textile and other industries have obtained a stay order from Sindh High Court. In July last year, the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCOE) had authorised National Energy Efficiency & Conservation Authority (NEECA) to conduct energy efficiency audit of captive power plants. The government has also recently decided to disconnect gas supply to captive power plants and shift them on the national grid. Following decision of CCOE, NEECA started the process of…

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LONDON (Reuters) – Renewables overtook fossil fuels as the European Union’s main source of electricity for the first time in 2020 as new projects came online and coal-power shrank, a report showed on Monday. Renewable sources such as wind and solar generated 38% percent of the 27-member state bloc’s electricity in 2020, with fossil fuels such as coal and gas contributing 37%, the report by think tanks Ember and Agora Energiewende showed. (Graphics: Electricity production share (%) in EU 27 – ) Denmark achieved the highest proportion of wind and…

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Last week cabinet committee on energy (CCoE) decided to put a moratorium on gas supply to self-generation of power for industrial connections, given these have electricity grid connections. The co-generation is exempted from the moratorium. The policy is proposed to be implemented by February for general industry, and March for export-oriented industries. In principle, it is the right decision. Under 2015 power policy, new capacity is being added to the grid and more capacity will come online in the next few years. There is no way domestic and commercial consumer…

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Experts are divided whether a significant growth of 25% in Pakistan’s imports in a single month is sustainable as imports are expected to remain high and heighten payment pressure ahead of the reopening of export markets. Pakistan’s imports increased almost 25%, or $1 billion, to a 17-month high at $5 billion in December 2020 compared to slightly over $4 billion in the same month of previous year, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). “Pakistan is heavily relying on receipt of workers’ remittances from overseas Pakistanis to manage payment…

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