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The country’s trade deficit soared to $5.8 billion in the first quarter of the current fiscal year, according to data shared by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The central bank said foreign direct investment (FDI) declined by 24 per cent to $415.7 million from July to September as compared to last year’s corresponding period. The foreign investment was recorded at $189 million in September 2020. The power sector received foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $113.3 million in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2020-21 while financial business $102.5…

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ISLAMABAD: The Auditor General of Pakistan has identified 447 cases of embezzlement, misappropriation, fraud, financial irregularities and violation of laws in entities of water and power sectors involving over Rs 4 trillion during the financial year 2019-20 – the first year of PTI government. According to the AGP report tabled in the National Assembly, 318 cases were identified in the power sector, ie, Pepco, NTDC and power Distribution Companies (Discos) amounting to Rs 2.964 trillion during the previous financial year. AGP’s key audit findings in power sector are as follows:…

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ISLAMABAD: Experts have praised the government’s move to promote the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in vehicles in place of compressed natural gas (CNG). In a statement on Saturday, Pakistan Economy Watch Chairman Aslam Khan said as per plan, the conversion of CNG stations into RLNG was in progress and the filling stations would not get natural gas in future. “Instead, CNG stations will use imported LNG, which will bring an end to the scarcity of gas for vehicles during winter,” he said. Khan said the move would reduce…

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) Chairman Brigadier (r) Aslam Khan on Saturday lauded the move of the government to promote the use of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in vehicles in place of compressed natural gas (CNG), saying that the move will reduce the oil import bill by almost 20 per cent. As per the plan, conversion of CNG stations to RLNG is in progress and the CNG stations will not get natural gas in future. Instead, they will use imported LNG which will bring an end to the scarcity of…

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ISLAMABAD: The country is likely to face acute shortage of gas in winter as the State Owned Entities (SOEs) are reluctant to import LNG in accordance with government policy. In July 2019, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had allowed private sector to import LNG through excess terminal capacity under third party access mechanism. However, even after the passage of more than 15 months, some vested interests in the government and other groups have posed legal and operational hurdles to deter private sector to import LNG. As a result, Pakistan has…

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