General Economic Updates

[Fatman17]

Editorial: Probe committee on wheat import appears to be an attempt to sweep the issue under the carpet.

Read the full editorial: https://www.dawn.com/news/1834577

 

[Fatman17]

Circular debt over Rs2.6tr, surpassing govt commitments https://www.dawn.com/news/1834574

 

[Fatman17]

Brisk buying of solar panels dampens demand for generators, UPS https://www.dawn.com/news/1834408/brisk-buying-of-solar-panels-dampens-demand-for-generators-ups

 

[Fatman17]

Sale bid of Pakistan International Airlines includes global aviation groups https://gulfnews.com/business/aviat...s-includes-global-aviation-groups-1.102710917

 

[Fatman17]

Snuffing Out The Local Automobile Sector https://thefridaytimes.com/16-May-2024/snuffing-out-the-local-automobile-sector

 

[Fatman17]

Govt seeks to extract Rs29bn more from electricity consumers for April https://www.dawn.com/news/1834795/g...9bn-more-from-electricity-consumers-for-april

 

[Fatman17]

Pakistan moves to sell national airline in test case for privatization drive https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/A...-airline-in-test-case-for-privatization-drive

 

[PakFactor]

Pakistan moves to sell national airline in test case for privatization drive https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/A...-airline-in-test-case-for-privatization-drive

The problem with the PIA privatization process is they've sold a lot of lucrative routes to Turkey and GCC countries.

 

[Fatman17]

The problem with the PIA privatization process is they've sold a lot of lucrative routes to Turkey and GCC countries.

That's not the only problem.
Heavily over employment due to political reasons especially by PPP.
Same goes for Railways and other public sector services. All are loss makers.

 

[PakFactor]

That's not the only problem.
Heavily over employment due to political reasons especially by PPP.
Same goes for Railways and other public sector services. All are loss makers.

Yes, that is correct. The overhead costs significantly impact the company's bottom-line (profit). In the U.S., the average number of employees per plane is 30, with budget airlines Spirit having 25 employees per plane with a fleet size of 202. In contrast, PIA has 250 employees per plane with a fleet size of 32, with a total employee count of 8,000. In the early 2000s, PIA employed almost 20,000 people. These figures do not include pensions, etc. This airline has been a financial burden on the nation's treasury.

 

[FuturePAF]

Govt seeks to extract Rs29bn more from electricity consumers for April https://www.dawn.com/news/1834795/g...9bn-more-from-electricity-consumers-for-april

If the government is required to procure electricity it has no plan to utilize, why not jump start the SEZs itself. Why wait on the Chinese. Offer free electricity for 10 years to jump start industries. Even if many companies leave after 10 years, local companies producing locally won’t be able to leave if they are using local labor and local materials. Also why aren’t we electrifying everything as possible. Electrified Rail could use up a lot of electricity, for example.

 

[Fatman17]

If the government is required to procure electricity it has no plan to utilize, why not jump start the SEZs itself. Why wait on the Chinese. Offer free electricity for 10 years to jump start industries. Even if many companies leave after 10 years, local companies producing locally won’t be able to leave if they are using local labor and local materials. Also why aren’t we electrifying everything as possible. Electrified Rail could use up a lot of electricity, for example.

They have absolutely zilch idea on how to deal with this sector.
No1 priority should be to fix/upgrade the distribution system. Line losses are over 20% . So to cover the line losses and line theft through kunda system they keep raising the tariff on the consumers. Further the government and its agencies don't pay their electricity bills and the circular debt keeps rising. I think it is nearly 3.0 Trillion now

 

[Fatman17]

In Pakistan, circular debt is a public debt which is a cascade of unpaid government subsidies,[1] which results in accumulation of debt on distribution companies. When this happens, the distribution companies cannot pay independent power producers who in turn, are unable to pay fuel-providing companies thus creating the debt effect as seen in the country.[2]

As of March 2024, the total circular debt of Pakistan was Rs. 3,000 billion.[3]

 

[Fatman17]

Editorial: The widening gap between the haves and have-nots is already tearing apart Pakistan’s social fabric.

Read the full editorial: https://www.dawn.com/news/1835165

 

[Fatman17]

"Climate change has increased the frequency of extreme weather events, and poses significant risks to homeowners in Pakistan, particularly the poor and marginalised."

Read the full op-ed: https://www.dawn.com/news/1835169