Month: January 2023

To help stabilise the economy, the federal cabinet resolved on Tuesday to take drastic steps, such as closing markets at 8:30 p.m. and wedding halls at 10.00 p.m. This is part of the government’s greater plan to cut back on energy consumption in order to save precious foreign exchange reserves.  According to Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, “with this initiative, which has been taken in consultation with trade bodies, there will be a saving of around Rs 62 billion (annually).” During a press conference, Asif also stated that, “the approval to…

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Construction work is under progress on 12 different sites of Dasu Hydropower Project. The critical diversion system will be completed in May this year, while electricity generation will commence by the end of 2026. The project management briefed Chairman Wapda Lt-Gen Sajjad Ghani (retd) during his visit to Dasu Hydropower Project which is being constructed by Wapda on River Indus upstream of Dasu Town in Upper Kohistan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The Chairman visited various sites of the project including diversion tunnels, dam area and the project colony. He was…

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The federal and Baluchistan governments inked a deal on Reko Diq with the Canadian business Barrick Gold on 16 December, after the Supreme Court approved a settlement to begin mining at the site located in Chagai district. The Baluchistan administration described the arrangement as historic and the largest investment pact ever made by the nation. The statement said, “The $6.5 billion punishment levied by an international court has been ineffective after signing the Reko Diq accord. Senior authorities attended a ceremony where the deal was signed by representatives of the…

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Dalian and Singapore iron ore futures fell on Tuesday, along with Chinese steel benchmarks and other steelmaking ingredients, as Covid-19 pressures that have been dragging down China’s economy weighed on sentiment on the first trading day of 2023. Top steel producer China’s factory activity shrank at a sharper pace in December as surging Covid-19 infections disrupted production and curbed demand after Beijing largely removed anti-virus curbs, a private sector survey showed. Iron ore’s most-traded May contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange fell as much as 1.5% to 842 yuan ($121.66)…

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The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) on Tuesday released details of activities undertaken by the authority’s oil enforcement team to promote a healthy environment. The team held a meeting on Safety Awareness Campaign-Mission. Regarding safe usage of heaters on gas, LPG, and LPG cylinders, a safety awareness walk was conducted at Murree jointly with the SNGPL and local administration. Chief Secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was requested to advise district authorities including the deputy and assistant commissioners to take stern action on the sale of plastic bags being used for…

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The circular debt of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has crossed the historic limit and the risk of default of PSO’s Letter of Credit (LC) for importing oil has arisen. According to the details, PSO s circular debt has reached Rs613 billion while gas and power companies have been defaulters of billions of rupees to PSO. PSO owes Rs388 billion to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines (SNGPL), the state-run thermal power plant has to pay more than Rs146 billion to PSO while PSO also owes Rs30 billion to HUBCO and KEPKO. According to…

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Pakistan’s government has ordered all malls and markets to close in the evenings as part of a new energy conservation plan Pakistan’s government has ordered all malls and markets to close by 8:30 pm among other measures in a new energy conservation plan as the country grapples with an economic crisis. The country’s foreign exchange reserve levels barely cover a month’s worth of imports, most of which are accounted for by energy purchases from abroad, with funds expected under an International Monetary Fund programme having been delayed, Reuters reported. Pakistan’s…

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