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ECONOMIC SURVEY 2024-25: Capacity payments weigh heavily on electricity users

Although the country’s total installed power generation capacity is set to rise to 46,605 megawatts in the outgoing fiscal year (FY25), substantial capacity payments to idle power plants continue to burden electricity consumers nationwide. However, energy experts in both the public and private sectors remain optimistic that this capacity payment burden — estimated at Rs12 to Rs15 per unit and p

Debt grows moderately to Rs76 trillion

The total debt of Pakistan stood at Rs76.01 trillion at the end of March this year, with domestic debt at Rs51.52tr and external debt at Rs24.49tr, according to the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-25 released on Monday. Growth in public debt was 6.7 per cent, which was lower as compared to the growth of 7.4pc in the same period of the preceding year, mainly due to increased primary surplus. Mo

Big industry production contracts amid challenges

Despite claims of achieving macroeconomic stability, the Large-Scale Manufacturing (LSM), which accounts for 67.5 per cent of the overall manufacturing sector, contracted by 1.5pc during July-March FY25. The Economic Survey, unveiled by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb on Monday, attributed this decline to persistent structural bottlenecks, elevated input costs, and contractions leading to n

Heavy imports causing trade imbalances

The demand pickup in developed markets created export opportunities for Pakistan. However, continued heavy reliance on imports, particularly from China, resulted in persistent trade imbalances, according to the Economic Survey 2024-25, issued on Monday. “With global trade of goods and services growth projected to slow to 1.7 per cent in 2025, the government is taking all measures to strengthen

Pakistan becoming regional IT hub

IT & ITeS export receipts rose by $541 million to $2.82 billion, showing a trade surplus of $2.42bn, during July-March, according to Economic Survey 2024-25 released on Monday. The ICT exports included a contribution of $400 million by the freelancers, and the survey highlighted that the tech-savvy and professional youth are set to become a regional hub for digital services, tech entrepreneursh