BY raising gas prices by up to 113pc for six months, the coalition government has implemented another IMF-mandated prior action for the resumption of its stalled bailout package. Even if the hike had not been ‘imposed’, an increase in the rates would have been inevitable to save the two gas companies from bankruptcy. The increase — to take effect from last month — will help the government recov
Business chiefs in the country are clamouring for the cash-strapped government to allow manufacturing materials stuck at the Karachi port into the country, warning that a failure to lift a ban on imports will leave millions jobless. Faced with critically low US-dollar reserves, the government has banned all but essential food and medicine imports until a lifeline bailout is agreed with the Inte
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan resumed their talks on Monday, with Islamabad hoping that these virtual discussions lead to a deal that eases up ever-increasing pressure on the country’s ailing economy. In Islamabad, Finance Secretary Hamed Yaqoob Sheikh told Reuters the “duration (of the talks) cannot be confirmed but we intend to wrap these up at the soonest”. Pakistan h
Pakistan plans to quadruple its domestic coal-fired capacity to reduce power generation costs and will not build new gas-fired plants in the coming years, Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan told Reuters on Monday, as it seeks to ease a crippling foreign-exchange crisis. A shortage of natural gas, which accounts for over a third of the country’s power output, plunged large areas into hours of
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan resumed their virtual talks on Tuesday as the government responded to the draft of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) shared by the Fund. Memoranda of Economic and Financial Policies are prepared by the member country. A memorandum describes the policies that a country intends to implement in the context of its request fo