Page 134 - Pakistan

Pakistan PM Shehbaz ready to sacrifice political capital at IMF altar

The premier said the government has clearly conveyed its intentions to complete the ninth review to the IMF

Long queues at filling stations in Pakistan amid acute petrol shortage

Long queues of automobiles and motorcycles were witnessed at filling stations in capital city of Islamabad and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province due to reduced supplies by oil marketing companies

Pak opposition leader Fawad Chaudhry arrested for publicly censuring govt

Pakistani authorities on Wednesday arrested Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party senior leader Fawad Chaudhry, hours after he publicly censured the government for scheming to arrest party chairman Imran Khan. Fawad, a close aide of ousted prime minister Khan, was taken into custody from his residence in Lahore after a case was registered against him at Kohsar Police Station on the complaint of the Secretary Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). This imported government has gone berserk, PTI leader Farrukh Habib tweeted. An official PTI Twitter account also posted videos, showing a convoy of police vehicles which the party claimed was carrying Chaudhry after his arrest. The arrest of Fawad, 52, came amidst rumours that the government may arrest PTI chief and former premier Khan. Fawad's arrest comes after he, along with scores of party workers, gathered outside Khan's Zaman Park residence in Lahore, claiming to avert the government's alleged plan to arrest the party chief. The arrest o

After Shehbaz Sharif's statement, India invites Pak for SCO meeting: Report

If the Pakistani foreign minister visits India, it will be the first such visit in 12 years

Pak textile sector suffers massive financial loss due to power outage

Industries all over Pakistan were halted after the significant power outage since the National Grid's electricity supply to three provinces was interrupted

Pak PM apologises to nation for inconvenience caused by power outage

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday apologised to the nation for the inconvenience caused by the countrywide power outage that plunged millions of people into darkness and vowed to fix responsibility for the second major breakdown in nearly four months. Pakistan faced a major power breakdown on Monday due to a voltage fluctuation in the national grid, disrupting normal life and leaving major parts of the country, including capital Islamabad and financial hub Karachi, without electricity. Taking to Twitter, the premier wrote: "On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to power outage yesterday." "On my orders an inquiry is underway to determine reasons of the power failure. Responsibility will be fixed," he tweeted. Power supply was mostly restored in Pakistan, though some parts of the country still experienced blackouts on Tuesday. Minister for Energy Khurram Dastgir said on Tuesday that ...

Electricity supply restored incrementally in Pak after nationwide outage

Electricity supply was restored incrementally in Pakistan on Tuesday after a nationwide power breakdown left millions of people without electricity amidst fears of default and looming economic meltdown due to a balance of payment crisis in the country. The massive power blackout on Monday was the second such outage in nearly four months. Today, at 5:15 am, the system was completely restored across the country, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir said. However, major cities, including Karachi, Quetta and Lahore, remained deprived of power, the Dawn newspaper said. Dastgir said that approximately 6,600 megawatts of coal and 3,500MW of nuclear plants would take an estimated 48 to 72 hours to restart. Until these plants start running, there will be limited load management, excluding industrial users, he was quoted as saying by the paper. The minister added that there was no fuel shortage in the country. We are considerate of the electricity bills people have to pay and try not to ...

Ready to assist Pakistan in solving its electricity issues, says US

The US is ready to assist Pakistan in resolving its electricity woes, a top official in the Biden administration has said, hours after the South Asian country faced a nationwide power breakdown due to a "frequency variation" in the national grid. According to the Ministry of Energy, the system of frequency of the national grid went down at 7:34 am local time on Monday, resulting in the breakdown on Monday, leaving millions of people without electricity, the second such outage in nearly four months. Of course, (we) have seen what has transpired in Pakistan. Our thoughts are with all those who've been affected by the outages. The US, of course, as you mentioned, has assisted our Pakistani partners across any number of challenges, State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at his daily news conference on Monday. We're prepared to do so in this case, if there is something that we're able to provide. But I'm not aware of any particular request yet, he said. Pakistan is ...

PM Shehbaz Sharif orders inquiry into 16-hour power outage in Pakistan

The outage lasted for more than 16 hours, especially when temperatures were forecasted to fall to around 4 degrees Celsius (39°F) in Islamabad and 8 degrees Celsius (46°F) in Karachi

Pakistan's national grid fails for the second time in three months

Energy Minister Khurrum Dastagir said the outage was caused by a large voltage surge in the south of the grid, which affected the entire network

Imran slams EC, says will challenge Punjab caretaker CM's appointment in SC

Pakistan's ex-premier Imran Khan has said he will challenge in the Supreme Court the appointment of Mohsin Naqvi as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, describing him an "enemy" of his party and slamming the election commission for reducing the country to a "Banana Republic". Naqvi was sworn in as the caretaker chief minister of Punjab on Sunday night, hours after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) unanimously decided to appoint him to the post. His appointment came after the ruling party and the opposition in the province failed to reach consensus on a name for the post. Naqvi, who was one of the two candidates suggested by ex-Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz, is the owner of a media house and said to be very close to PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari.

Pakistan's State Bank raises key rate by 100 basis points as crisis mounts

State Bank of Pakistan raised the target rate to 17%, a move expected by 25 of 43 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The majority of the economists had forecast a hike ranging from 75-200 basis points

Pakistan has 'technically' defaulted with continuous loan rollovers

While Pakistan has not officially defaulted, but with continuous rollovers of loans that have come from China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE among others, the country has already done so 'technically'

Pak suffers nationwide power outage after grid failure: Power ministry

Pakistan faced a major power breakdown on Monday due to a "frequency variation" in the national grid, leaving millions of people in large parts of the country, including capital Islamabad and financial hub Karachi, without electricity. According to the Ministry of Energy, the system of frequency of the national grid went down at 7:34 am local time, resulting in the breakdown. System maintenance work is progressing rapidly, it tweeted. Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir said the restoration work was going on. "I can assure you that power will be fully restored across the country within the next 12 hours, he was quoted as saying by Geo News. Explaining the failure, he said the authorities shut down the power generation system at night due to lower demand in winter to save fuel costs. But when the systems were turned on in the morning, frequency variation and voltage fluctuation were observed in the south of the country somewhere between Dadu and Jamshoro resulting in shutting down of

Pakistan's mobile phone imports decline 66% in 1st half of FY 2023

Pakistan's mobile phone imports declined by 66 per cent in the first half of the current fiscal year 2022-2023, compared to the same period of the last fiscal year, according to official figures

Pak imported cars worth $1.2 bn in 6 months despite economic crisis: Report

Pakistan spent USD 1.2 billion (Rs 259 billion) on the import of transportation items, including luxury cars, high-end electric vehicles, and their parts, during the last six months amidst sinking reserves and fear of default, according to a media report. The country is in the middle of a financial crunch with the foreign exchange reserves depleting to as low as USD 4 billion, forcing the central bank to slow down the import of even essential items. The News reported that despite the overall reduction in imports of transportation vehicles and other items compared with last year, the economy was still burdened with heavy outflows for buying expensive luxury vehicles and useless items. During these six months, the country imported completely built units (CBU), completely knocked down/semi knocked down (CKD/SKD) of USD 530.5 million equivalent to Rs 118.2 billion. Since CKD kits are not allowed to be imported, yet millions of dollars of these kits are being imported, harming the local

Petrol stocks may dry up in Pakistan as banks refuse to open, confirm LCs

The Petroleum Division has warned the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) that the stocks of petroleum products may dry up as banks are refusing to open and confirm Letters of Credit (LCs) for imports

Leave Pak to Pak

Pakistan desperately needs breathing space and financial generosity, but India should not indulge it

Pak to pay for Russian oil in currencies of 'friendly countries': Official

Pakistan will pay for energy purchases from Russia, when they start in late March, in currencies of friendly countries, a top energy official said on Friday. The development came at the conclusion of the 8th session of the Pakistan-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economic, scientific, and technical cooperation led by Ayaz Sadiq, Pakistan Minister for Economic Affairs, and Nikolay Shulginov, Russian Energy Minister, from respective sides between January 18 and 20 here. Shulginov, in a joint statement read out before the media, said Islamabad would pay for energy purchases in currencies of friendly countries, adding that the two countries agreed in late March as the timeline for crude oil export to cash-strapped Pakistan. The friendly countries were not named but likely include China which has close ties with both Pakistan and Russia. The two sides worked under the guidance of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif and President Vladimir Putin and took the opportunity to

World Bank delays $1.1 billion loan to cash-starved Pakistan until next FY

The Bank's documents also showed that the PACE-II loan might be approved in the next fiscal year