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Petrol shortage feared PM CALLS FOR ADEQUATE FINANCING, as oil transporters ACTIONS IN KEY AREAS TO ACHIEVE SDGS go on strike
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Wednesday, 20 September, 2023 I 3 Rabi ul Awwal, 1445
WELCOMES XI'S ANNOUNCEMENT OF SETTING UP ANOTHER FUND OF $10 BILLION FOR GDI
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UNITED NATIONS
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SAYS CHINA’S BRI AND CPEC ARE VITAL VEHICLES FOR ACHIEVING SDGS
STAFF REPORT
ARETAKER Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Tuesday, expressing Pakistan’s support for the Global Development Initiative (GDI), highlighted the need for adequate financing and called for action in key areas to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The prime minister, addressing the High Level Meeting on Global Development Initiative (GDI) Cooperation Outcomes, urged for action in five key areas including food production, infrastructure investment, industrialisation, resilient healthcare systems and the bridging digital divide. He highlighted the necessity of adequate and appropriate finance at all levels of the development process and welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement of setting up another fund of $10 billion dedicated to the implementation of the GDI. The prime minister highlighted that progress towards achieving the SDGs had suffered a serious setback due to the poly crises of COVID-19, conflict and climate change. He expressed Pakistan’s support for the GDI and commended the milestones achieved in its implementation, the most recent being the successful launch of the Inter-Agency Task Force on GDI. Prime Minister Kakar stressed that China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor were vital vehicles for achieving the SDGs. He stated that Pakistan looked forward to enhancing its cooperation with China and other members of the Group of Friends of GDI to realize their collective aspiration for the implementation of SDGs. The event also featured the opening remarks by Vice President of China Han Zheng, President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis, and other high-level dignitaries, as well as a video briefing
Govt appeals SC’s review act verdict
and presentation on GDI cooperation. PM Kakar arrives in New York to lead Pakistan’s delegation at UNGA Caretaker Prime Minister flew into New York on Monday afternoon to lead Pakistan’s delegation at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which opens tomorrow, with nearly 150 world leaders set to attend the annual event. He was received at John F. Kennedy International Airport by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aamir Khan, Consul General in New York, Aamer Ahmed Atozai, and other officials. The prime minister is set to address the General Assembly on Sept 22, the first Pakistani caretaker premier to do so. Massive security measures are in place in and around the UN complex for the Assembly’s high-level debate from Sept 19 to 26. In his address, PM Kakar is expected to project Pakistan’s perspective on a range of regional and general issues of
concern, including the Jammu and Kashmir dispute. He will also elaborate on the significant measures taken by his caretaker administration to consolidate the country’s economic recovery and efforts to mobilize domestic and external investment. In addition, the prime minister will hold bilateral meetings with counterparts from various countries as well as with
the heads of international organizations, philanthropic organizations and corporate leaders. He also has a number of media engagements. Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani arrived on Sunday. PM Kakar will apparently be the first interim prime minister to represent Pakistan at the UN General Assembly. At a news briefing in New York last week, Ambassador Munir Akram said that PM Kakar will also participate in a sustainable development goals (SDG) summit during his visit to the UN headquarters. The United Nations will convene the SDG summit in New York on Sept 18-19, on the sidelines of the Assembly session. “The prime minister will be speaking about the mobilization of financing for SDGs,” Ambassador Akram said. The prime minister will also make a keynote at another summit on financing for development where “he will talk about how to mobilize private sector finance for development,” the Pakistani envoy added. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chosen not to attend this year’s session. Instead his Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar will address the Assembly on Sept 26.
PM Kakar expected to visit China next month
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar is expected to pay official visit to China next month. The premier will attend 10-year celebrations of CPEC and hold meetings with Chinese leadership. Matters pertaining to mutual interests would come under discussion in the meeting. Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar is currently in New York to lead Pakistan’s delegation at the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), which opens today, with nearly 150 world leaders set to attend the annual event. He was received at John F. Kennedy International Airport by Pakistan’s Ambassador to the UN, Munir Akram, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United States, Masood Khan, Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Aamir Khan, Consul General in New York, Aamer Ahmed Atozai, and other officials. STAFF REPORT
Interim ECC reviews bailout for Pakistan Steel Mill, availability of staple foods and power sector benchmark rates
ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
Rs 15.00 | Vol XIV No 81 I 8 Pages I Islamabad Edition
The federal government has filed an appeal against the apex court’s judgment on the Supreme Court (Review of Judgment and Orders) Act, 2023, requesting it to reconsider its decision. In its appeal, the government has asserted that Article 142 of the Constitution empowers the parliament to enact such legislation, and the judicial decision interferes with the legislative powers. The Supreme Court on August 11 struck down as unconstitutional the piece of legislation that sought to widen the scope of review jurisdiction in cases decided under Article 184(3). “The Supreme Court (Review of Judgments and Orders) Act 2023 is ultra vires the Constitution being beyond the legislative competence of parliament,” declared a three-member bench led by former chief justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar. “The petitions [filed against the act] are maintainable for the purposes of Article 184(3) of the Constitution. The Supreme Court (Review of Judgements and Orders) Act, 2023, is repugnant to and ultra vires the Constitution… being beyond the legislative competence of parliament. It is accordingly struck down as null and void and of no legal effect,” said a 51-page verdict authored by Justice Ahsan. Earlier on June 18, the bench had reserved the judgment on the petitions challenging the law. Interestingly, the judgment was announced a day after the dissolution of the National Assembly. Senior lawyers had raised serious questions over the timing of the verdict. The appeal said the judgment has questioned the competence of the parliament to legislate such laws. “With utmost respect, it seems, the court, while rendering the judgment under review, remained under the incorrect view that the Review Act, 2023 has been passed in exercise of powers under Article 142 read with entry 55 of the Federal legislative List. “In fact the Review Act, 2023 has been passed in exercise of powers conferred on the parliament under Article 188 read with entry 58 of the fourth schedule of the Constitution,” it said.
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PAKISTAN STEEL MILL HAS CUMULATIVELY INCURRED LOSSES OF RS 206 BILLION UP UNTIL END OF FY23 PROFIT
SHAHZAD PARACHA
The session of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet was held on Tuesday in Islamabad. In the topics under discussion in the meeting, it was disclosed that the accumulated losses of Pakistan Steel Mill (PSM) stood at Rs 206 billion till June 30, 2022. The Caretaker Federal Minister for Finance, Revenue, & Economic Affairs Dr. Shamshad Akhtar chaired the meeting of the ECC of the Cabinet. In the session, the Ministry of Industries and Production presented the summary with regard to the approval of the payment of projected net salary of the PSM employees for the Financial Year 2023-24. PSM is a wholly owned entity of the government of Pakistan. It started incurring losses from the year 2008-09 and its accumulated losses climbed to Rs 206 billion till June 30, 2022. The government of Pakistan has been providing funds for the net salaries of PSM’s employees since 2013 while the production operations of PSM have been suspended since June 2015 therefore the entity does not have adequate financial resources to pay the salaries of its employees. In the wake of privatization process of PSM, the government decided to retrench the PSM’s employees and so far 5679 employees have been retrenched and approximately 3100 employees are working. Due to the retrenchment of the employees, the salaries of the employees have been reduced from Rs 360 million per month to around Rs 104 million per month at present. However the PSM is not even self-sufficient enough to pay that amount. The industry and production ministry has asked ECC to approve the payment of projected net
salary of Rs 1.24 billion for the Financial Year 2023-24 to be disbursed according to the salary demand of PSM for every month from the already approved budgetary allocation of Rs 10 billion. After detailed discussion and deliberation, the ECC authorized the Finance Division to approve the payment of projected net salary for the first 6 months of the Financial Year 2023-24 to be disbursed according to the salary demand of PSM for every month from the already approved budgetary allocation of Rs. 10 billion. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives also gave a briefing about the trends of Major economic Indicators and trends in the Prices of important food items. The ECC directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to prepare and submit regular reports on availability of stocks, consumption, and pricing of all staple items specially Wheat and Sugar to the ECC in order to enable it to monitor the availability and pricing of these important commodities. The ECC also directed the Ministry of Planning, Development, & Special Initiatives, to control undue profiteering and to maintain the gap between wholesale & retail prices of essential food items through its respective Chief Secretaries. Similarly, The Ministry of Energy presented the summary regarding “Transition of London InterBank Offer Rate (LIBOR) to Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR)”. Sources said that Several IPPs together with their lenders approached Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) for transition from LIBOR to SOFR as UK’s financial conduct authority announced that US $ LIBOR will cease to be applied as benchmark for financial transactions after December 31, 2021 and will no longer be available for quoting after June 30, 2023.
KARACHI
STAFF REPORT
Oil transporters have gone on strike, suspending the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country due to an increase in supply through the while line pipeline, which transports petroleum products from Karachi to other parts of the country. The Oil Tankers Contractors Association (OTCA) claimed that their strike has caused the suspension of petroleum products’ supply by up to 90%. A leader of the association, Salman Tareen, said that the supply of petrol via the white line pipeline on a high level after the supply of diesel through this means has deeply affected the oil transporter’s business. “The white line pipeline, which has been supplying petrol since 2021, is going to destroy our business; therefore we appeal to the government to give us a share in operating the vehicles it has made under the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) contract,” Tareen said. OTCA also demanded a hike in the fares for the supply routes and abstained from increasing the supply of petroleum products via the white line pipeline from Karachi to Mahmoodkot for five years. The oil transporters have demanded a 100% increase in fares for local routes and a 50% increase for long routes, as well as a quota from the white oil pipeline. Meanwhile, the Oil Companies Advisory Council (OCAC) has warned the government that the supply and distribution of petroleum products could be limited due to the strike of oil transporters, and called for the resolution of the issue. “We bring to your notice that the ongoing strike by oil transporters, which has resulted in a significant disruption in operations and distribution of petroleum products across the country,” the OCAC stated in a letter to Director General Oil, Petroleum Division. It said that the strike has severely affected the loading of tank lorries at key terminals and depots in Karachi, where most of the country’s oil imports are handled. “The loading of tank lorries has been severely affected due to the ongoing strike by the oil transporters and their unions at Port Qasim, Korangi & Keamari Terminal and Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has reported issues at these depots Jaglot and Sihala Depot, which is further exacerbating the supply chain disruptions in the northern area of Pakistan.” The OCAC sought the immediate intervention of the government to ensure the uninterrupted loading of tank lorries at the depots to maintain a consistent and reliable supply of petroleum products to all regions and avoid any adverse consequences of shortages in the country.
Saudi crown prince likely to visit Pakistan in October ISLAMABAD
STAFF REPORT
The much-anticipated visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman is likely to take place in the first week of October, official sources familiar with the development said on Tuesday. Pakistan has been pushing for a visit from Saudi de facto ruler for months. The Saudi crown prince visited India recently to attend a G20 summit and later for a state visit. There were reports that the Saudi leader might make a brief stopover in Islamabad but later the plan was shelved. Sources said the foreign office suggested that instead of Saudi crown prince making a stopover for a few hours it was better he would be invited for a state visit on separate dates. Insiders revealed that both sides were in contact with each other to finalise the dates for the visit. It is expected that the Saudi ruler may visit in the first week of October. Because of the likely visit of the Saudi crown prince, Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar postponed his trip to Saudi Arabia. He was earlier to travel to the Kingdom before leaving for the UN General Assembly session in New York. Pakistan has high hopes of the impending visit of Saudi crown prince against the backdrop of economic crunch. Authorities are confident that the visit of Prince Mohammad would pave the way for muchneeded investment the country has been seeking as part of efforts to address the economic challenges. A Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) was set up recently as part of efforts by the military leadership to attract investment from the Gulf countries. Saudi Arabia has been identified as the major country to chip in with billions of dollars investment. Sources said during the visit of MBS, both sides are expected to announce major investment projects. One project includes the setting up of an oil refinery in Gwadar. The multibillion dollar project was first announced during the visit of MBS in February 2019. However, no further progress was made due to various reasons including tensions between the PTI government and Saudi Arabia.
Another power tariff hike of Rs1.82 per unit on the cards PROFIT
AHMAD AHMADANI
The power tariff is again likely to be increased as the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) has filed an application with NEPRA seeking power tariff increase by Rs 1.8290 per kilowatt hour (kWh), it was learnt on Saturday. According to the details, CPPA on behalf of power distribution companies (DISCOs) except K-Electric has asked the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to approve Rs 1.82 per unit hike in the power tariff on account of fuel charges adjustment
(FCA) for the month of August 2023. NEPRA will conduct a hearing in this regard on September 27. Once approved, the increase will put an additional burden on already burdened power consumers. The CPPA, in its application, has submitted that the total electricity generated with various fuels in the month of August was recorded at 15,959 GWh, at a price of Rs8.2654 per unit. The total cost of energy was Rs131,910 million. The power generation with hydel source was 6,006GWh (giga watt per hour) constituting 37.63 per cent while power production with coal-fired power plants was
2,357 GWh (local + imported coal: 1,638+ 719GWh) which was 14.77 per cent of the total generation at a price of Rs20.1430 per unit and power generation with RFO was 649 GWh 4.51 per cent of total generation calculated at Rs33.3227 per unit. Similarly, the power generation from gas-based power plants was 1,214 GWh, 7.60 per cent of the total generation, totaling Rs13.2190 per unit and the generation from Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) was 2,741 GWh, which was 17.17 per cent of total generation, at Rs23.7148 per unit. Likewise, power production from bagasse recorded at 38 GWh, the price of
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which has been calculated at Rs5.9822 per unit. The electricity generated from wind was recorded at 8.5 GWh, 5.05 per cent of total generation and solar at 84 GWh, 0.53 per cent of the total generation in August 2023. Moreover, electricity generation from nuclear sources was 2,040GWh which came out at Rs1.1725 per unit, 12.79 per cent of the total generation, and electricity imported from Iran was 26 GWh that amounted to Rs25.0981 per unit, 0.16 per cent of the total power generation in the said month. It is also learnt from the data submitted by the CCPA-G with NEPRA that net electricity delivered to DISCOs in August 2023
was 15,472 GWh (96.95pc) at a rate of Rs8.4746 per unit, total price of which was Rs131,118 million. The CPPA-G in its tariff adjustment request advocated that the reference fuel charges for August 2023 were fixed at Rs 6.6457 per unit while the actual fuel charges were recorded at Rs8.4747 per unit. So an increase of Rs 1.8290 per unit in the power tariff should be made for the month of August under FCA mechanism. NEPRA will invite all the interested/affected parties to raise written/oral objections as permissible under the law at the scheduled public hearing on September 27, 2023.