PRIME MINISTER Shehbaz Sharif must have felt stuck between a rock and a hard place after Ogra recommended a massive increase in the prices of petroleum products for recovering the full import cost and exchange rate losses from consumers. According to the estimates of the oil and gas regulator, the government is required to raise petrol prices by Rs21.30 a…
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The Power Division on Thursday informed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that there was currently no shortage of electricity in the country and power plants were closed because they either did not have fuel or faced technical difficulties. The Power Division blamed the “incompetence” of the previous PTI regime for the problems faced by the sector. PM Shehbaz was further informed…
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The Lahore Electric Supply Company’s demand and supply stood around 4,300MW and 3,760MW (on an average), respectively, creating a shortfall of around 550MW and forcing the company to observe loadshedding of two to four hours in urban and about eight hours in rural areas. “On Saturday, the peak hours’ demand and supply touched a figure of 4,295MW and 3,760MW, causing…
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Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday urged the authorities to expedite the Diamer Bhasha Dam project and have it completed by 2026 instead of its currently scheduled time of 2029. The newly elected prime minister issued the instructions during his visit to the site to inspect the project’s pace of work and activities. He was accompanied by other PML-N leaders,…
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The LPG Industries Association of Pakistan has demanded of the government to restore operations of Asia’s largest LPG processing plant, the Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited (JJVL), at the earliest as its closure has not only reduced the local LPG production, thus creating a significant shortfall, but has also resulted in the hike of LPG prices by 172 percent just in…
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Tesla CEO Elon Musk is offering to buy Twitter, saying the social media platform he has criticised for not living up to free speech principles needs to be transformed as a private company. Twitter Inc said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that Musk, currently the company’s biggest shareholder, has proposed buying the remaining shares of Twitter that he doesn’t…
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Oil prices rose on Thursday, reversing course after an early decline as investors bought futures ahead of a long weekend on news that the European Union might phase in a ban on Russian oil imports. Brent futures were up $1.35, or 1.30 per cent, at $110.19 a barrel. US West Texas Intermediate futures were $1.24 or 1.18pc higher at $105.48…
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Non-availability of required volume of fuel to power houses coupled with technical faults owing to non-maintenance of some power plants are the main reasons for forced outages of 7,140 MWs across the country. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was informed about these facts during a Power Division briefing here on Thursday on the power generation situation in the country at a…
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The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is willing to engage the new government and suggest roadmaps towards economic sustainability, and assist Pakistan in its efforts to head off a looming balance of payment (BoP) crisis, the Fund said on Thursday. “The IMF congratulates Mr Sharif on becoming Prime Minister and looks forward to working with his government and discussing policies that…
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Foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) fell another $470 million on a weekly basis to reach a critical $10.85 billion, revealed central bank data on Thursday. This is the lowest reserve-level since June 2020. Total liquid foreign reserves held by the country stood at $17.03 billion as of April 8, said the SBP. The development…
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