Day: January 3, 2022

Pakistan’s natural gas shortfall is wreaking havoc on the country’s export industry, and has stripped off $250 million worth of textile exports in December alone, reported by Bloomberg.

According to Bloomberg’s calculations, the amount of $250 million was about 20 percent of Pakistan’s textile exports last month, and added to the woes of an economy that is already plagued by rising inflation and a weakening currency.

The textile industry is essentially one of the country’s few economic wildcards that supplies everything from denim pants to hats in the United States and Europe. Local production notably increased by over six percent in the nine months leading up to March 2021, and the sector accounted for 60 percent of the total exports.

However, the month of December boded badly for the industry as mills in Punjab were forced to close for 15 days, which resulted in a loss of $250 million in textile exports, according to the Executive Director of the All Pakistan Textile Mills Association, Shahid Sattar. The province’s factories rely on regasified liquefied natural gas imports while domestic sources are redirected to other areas, he explained.

Sattar stated in an interview that the current prices of gas are exorbitant, and the supply gap is due to the Ministry of Energy’s ineptitude, which has jeopardized the future of Pakistan’s exports and economy. “Our history is littered with episodes of ‘stop-go’ growth caused by energy shortages and exorbitant costs, both of which are the result of mismanagement, he remarked.

Although the government restored gas supplies to the textiles sector, regular power outages continue to impede operations, according to Sattar. If the situation continues, the mills will only be able to operate at roughly 80 percent capacity, he warned.

While local LNG availability has dwindled in recent years, Pakistan has unfortunately emerged as a fast-growing importer of the fuel. Moreover, owing to worldwide shortages, the demand for LNG has increased, driving spot rates to levels that Pakistan cannot afford.

As Pakistan entered the winter, it filed an emergency tender in November 2021 to acquire extra LNG after suppliers backed out due to rising prices and heightened global demand. Gas merchant Gunvor also recently informed Pakistan that it would be unable to make a supply scheduled for 10 January 2022.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The cost of quarterly adjustments for Karachi is expected to be as high as Rs. 4.80 per unit.

National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) reserved its decision after hearing K-Electric’s request for an increase in the per-unit price of electricity. NEPRA Authority will issue a decision after reviewing the data.

A petition was filed in this regard by K-Electric, upon which a hearing was conducted at Nepra headquarter. It is expected that for the electricity consumers of Karachi, the quarterly adjustments are likely to cost up to Rs. 4.80 per unit for the months of July to September 2021.

K-Electric sought an increase of Rs. 5.18 per unit in terms of quarterly adjustment for July-September 2021.

Nepra officials informed the committee that the quarterly increment is calculated at Rs. 4.80 per unit. As per the decision, which is to be announced later, a Rs 4.50 increase in terms of fuel and 30 paise in capacity charges are likely to be allowed in quarterly adjustments.

According to NEPRA statistics, violation of merit orders has affected consumers to the tune of Rs. 144.6 million.

K-Electric officials during the hearing said that there is no burden on the consumer due to the non-availability of gas as well as the absence of a sale and purchase agreement.

Vice-Chairman NEPRA questioned K-Electric’s response, stating that the shortages of gas have burdened the consumers. The reduction in gas pressure from August till now will impose a burden of Rs 3.25 billion on consumers, NEPRA officials informed the hearing.

K-Electric officials informed the authority that they have started work on three agreements regarding the purchase of electricity from the federation.

Soon an agreement to purchase 2,050 MW of electricity from CPPA would be signed, and a draft regarding tariff differential subsidy has also been sent to the Ministry of Energy to settle it at the earliest.

K-Electric claimed that by 2023-24, the utility company will be able to procure an additional 2,050 MW of electricity from the national grid.

K-Electric also sought a 32 paisa increase for fuel cost adjustment for November. After the hearing, November’s monthly fuel price adjustment is likely to bring relief of 75 paisas per unit for K-Electric consumers.

During the hearing, the Chairman NEPRA questioned that why K-Electric requests to increase the price of power units instead of employing cheap power generation resources.

Chairman NEPRA also inquired about the extent of the issue of lower gas pressure. K-Electric officials replied that gas was being supplied to K-Electric from SSGC. K-Electric officials further said that due to the local gas crisis, power generation from RLNG has increased by 6 percent.

NEPRA officials questioned the K-Electric officials regarding electricity being generated from expensive sources despite the availability of gas, further burdening the consumers.

The officials from NEPRA ruled that for November, K-Electric customers will get a relief of 75 paise per unit on account of monthly fuel cost adjustment.

NEPRA will issue a decision after reviewing the data on both quarterly and monthly tariff petitions.

Chairman NEPRA said that the authority is bringing CTBCM for the business class, which will open Pakistan’s power market for the international players as well.

The business community will not have to rely on a single power company, opined the Chairman NEPRA.

The decision is reserved on both and notification regarding quarterly and monthly fuel adjustments would be issued later on.

Source: Pro Pakistani

President of Pakistan, Dr. Arif Alvi, has convened a session of Senate at the Parliament House on Tuesday at 4:00 pm, according to a notification.

It is expected that the Finance Supplementary Bill 2021 and the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 will be tabled during the session, a constitutional requirement under Article 73 of the Constitution.

Article 73(1) of the Constitution states, “Notwithstanding anything contained in Article 70, a money bill shall originate in the National Assembly: provided that simultaneously when a money bill, including the finance bill containing the annual budget statement, is presented in the National Assembly, a copy thereof shall be transmitted to the Senate which may, within fourteen days, make recommendations thereon to the National Assembly.”

The recommendations from the Senate are not binding for the National Assembly, and it has the power to approve a money bill without considering them.

In a clarification issued on Sunday, the Finance Division had dispelled the notion that the government is in no hurry to get the bills passed.

The statement read, “Government of Pakistan has introduced both the bills in National Assembly and IMF has moved the 6th tranche recommendation to its board for consideration on January 12, 2021. As soon as the prior actions are completed by Pakistan, which the government is pushing hard, the IMF board will consider it for approval. IMF board can move whenever our actions are completed.”

The Finance Minister, Shaukat Tarin, while speaking to a private news channel on Sunday, apprised that the government would get the finance bill passed from the National Assembly very soon, after which it would be presented in Senate for the final process.

The approval of the bills from the parliament is required for the revival of the stalled $6 billion loan program from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Last Thursday, the government had tabled the two controversial bills in the National Assembly amid strong protest by opposition parties, who accused the ruling party of surrendering the country’s economic sovereignty through the bills. The next days’ session lasted just 12 minutes before it was prorogued for an indefinite period.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The listed companies at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) paid the highest ever dividends of Rs. 499.84 billion in the calendar year 2021 (CY21), a staggering 87 percent higher than the CY20 figure of Rs. 267.608 billion.

Finance Ministry spokesperson, Muzzammil Aslam, took to Twitter to announce the figures, also shared a sector-wise breakdown of the cash dividends.

The dividend payouts by commercial banks were the highest and stood at Rs. 139,173 million. They were followed by Oil & Gas exploration companies at Rs. 71,127 million.

However, according to a report released by brokerage house Topline Securities, Pakistan’s benchmark KSE-100 index underperformed in the regional market posting a -8 percent return in dollar terms compared to regional players like Sri Lanka, India, and China.

All other asset classes (Crypto, Real Estate, and Roshan Digital), performed much better than the equity markets. Cryptocurrency, which is not officially recognized by Pakistan, remained the best performing asset class in Pakistan in 2021, posting a return of 79 recent in PKR terms. This was followed by property and Roshan Digital Dollar Certificate which posted returns of 23 percent and 18 percent respectively in PKR terms.

The year saw record volumes as average traded volume (ready/cash) at PSX was up 44 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 474 million shares/day. Similarly, the average traded value at PSX was up 38 percent to Rs.17 billion/day which was the highest since 2007.

According to the report, Technology and Textile Spinning were the top-performing sectors in 2021 posting returns of 40 percent YoY and 37 percent YoY, respectively. Tobacco and transport sectors remained the worst performing sectors posting a decline of 31 percent YoY and 27 percent YoY, respectively.

Source: Pro Pakistani

As many as 39 lawmakers, including 10 Members National Assembly and eight Senators, did not pay income tax for the year that ended on June 30, 2019, revealed the Parliamentarians Tax Directory released by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday.

According to the Tax Directory, the senators who showed zero income tax payment included former prime minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, Senator Hidayatullah Khan, Naseema Ehsan, Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan, Quratulain Marri, Faisal Saleem Rahman, Prince Ahmed Umer Ahmedzai and Rana Maqbool Ahmad.

The Members National Assembly who paid no tax during the period included Saleem Rehman (NA-3), Farukh Khan (Punjab-33), Shakila Khalid Chaudhry (Punjab-34), Abdul Shakoor (NA-51), Mansoor Hayat Khan (NA-63), Niaz Ahmed Jakhar (NA-188), Sardar Muhammad Khan Laghari (NA-192), Pir Ameer Ali Shah Jeelani (NA-221), Saif Ur Rehman (NA-242) and Kamal Uddin (NA-262).

Member Provincial Assembly (Balochistan) Khalil George (NM-63) also did not pay any income tax during the period.

Three Members of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Provincial Assembly, including Aisha Banno (WR-10), Madiha Nisar (WR-16), Ikhtiar Wali (PK-63), and Shah Dad Khan (PK-81), paid zero income tax during the year.

As per the Directory, at least nine Members of the Punjab Provincial Assembly paid zero tax during the period. The provincial lawmakers included Raja Sagheer Ahmed (PP-7), Talat Mehmood (PP-51), Mumtaz Ahmed (PP-105), Muhammad Moavia (PP-126), Mahmood Ul Haq (PP-141), Muhammad Saleem Akhtar (PP-212), Malik Wasif Mazhar (PP-218), Khalid Mehmood Dogar (PP-230), Mian Alamdar Abbas Qureshi (PP-277), Samiullah Chaudhary (PP-246), Sania Kamran (W-316), Azma Zahid Bokhari (W-333) and Rukhsana Kausar (W-347).

Jam Shabbir Ali Khan (PS-43) was the only Member Provincial Assembly (Sindh) who did not pay any income tax during the period under review.

Three parliamentarians including Mumtaz Ahmed (PP-105), Hamid Rashid (PP-117) and Senator Saifullah Abro from Sindh paid zero income tax during the period under review, however, their associations of persons (AOPs) tax stood at Rs. 11,030,404, Rs. 2,975,113 and Rs. 60,750,092 respectively.

Source: Pro Pakistani

The National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) has successfully enhanced the grid capacity of 500 kV Rawat Grid Station and 220 kV WAPDA Town Lahore Grid Station by augmenting its previously installed 220/132 kV Transformers of 160 MVA capacity with a new 250 MVA transformers.

The NTDC spokesman said that the projects were completed and energized successfully. The addition and replacement of transformers were planned under NTDC Constraints Removal Scheme to provide an uninterrupted power supply to end consumers as per increased load demand during the upcoming summer.

This will also bring improvement in voltage profile and will minimize overloading and tripping of the system in respective areas of Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) and Lahore Electricity Supply Company (LESCO). NTDC completed both projects before their deadlines.

The spokesman further said that besides the commissioning of transformers, NTDC also energized 3×37 MVAR 500 kV Shunt Reactors for 500 kV Rawat – Nokhar Transmission Line. The equipment helps to avoid tripping of transmission line that occurs due to low load conditions during winters.

The spokesman added that the NTDC team is working ambitiously on transformers augmentation and addition projects across the country, which are expected to be completed before summer.

Chairman, Members BoD and MD NTDC appreciated the efforts of the NTDC team for early completion of transformers installation and Shunt Reactors.

Source: Pro Pakistani