Business

Musadik Malik says gas load-shedding inevitable despite extra LNG in January

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Country to have additional 200 million MMCFD LNG in Jan-Feb.
Govt encourages private sector to invest in new LNG terminals.
Planning to import 20,000 tonnes of extra LPG for winters.

ISLAMABAD: Musadik Malik, the Minister of State for Petroleum, on Monday warned that gas loadshdding is inevitable in the coming months despite the arrangement of additional 200 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) liquefied natural gas (LNG) in January-February 2023, compared to the same period last year.

“Despite the availability of an extra LNG cargo during the upcoming peak winter season, gas load-shedding will be inevitable,” Malik said while briefing the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum in a meeting held under the chair of Chairman Committee, Senator Mohammad Abdul Qadir.

“In January, Pakistan will have ten LNG cargoes, while in February nine of them will be available for local consumption, while this extra liquefied gas will be imported by state-run companies.”

Malik said the government would encourage the private sector to invest in new LNG terminals.

The state petroleum minister was critical of the supply of gas to the fertiliser-makers at discounted rates.

“The gas costing Rs4,000/MMBTU was being supplied to the fertiliser factories for just Rs250/MMBTU under the pressure of the fertiliser mafia,” the minister said.

A poor common consumer pays $17/MMBTU, while the exporting sector gets the same gas for $9/MMBTU; however, it is provided to the fertiliser-makers at a meagre $1.35-3/MMBTU.

“It is true exports are also important, the gas sector circular debt has ballooned to Rs1,500 billion,” he said adding, “We have to strike a balance between gas prices. We did not buy gas when it was available at $2-2.5/MMBTU. Now it has reached $40/MMBTU.”

Malik also informed the meeting that the country was also planning to import 20,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for winter months.

Speaking on the occasion, PTI’s Senator Saifullah Abro said foreign investment in the gas sector would be highly welcome. “However, we need to be careful lest these investing companies should trap the country into paying them capacity payments like some independent power producers (IPPs),” Senator Abro said.

During the meeting, Abro and Malik traded barbs over mismanagement in the buying of LNG.

Business

China Contributes 43 New Foreign Firms to the 6% Growth in SECP Registrations

Published

23 hours ago

Farwa

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan has registered 2,617 new firms this year, a 6% increase from 2023, with assistance from the Special Investment Facilitation Council. This increases the overall number of businesses that are registered to 231,111.

Non-profits, trade associations, and public unlisted firms make up 4% of these, while private limited corporations make up 55% and single-member companies 41%. It is noteworthy that 99.8% of the registrations were done online, demonstrating SECP’s attempts to digitise.

Real estate has 237 new businesses, services has 306, and trade has 377 new businesses. These are the main sectors exhibiting growth. While the healthcare and textile industries each had 49 new businesses, the education sector saw 101.

China contributed the most, adding 43 new companies, out of the 61 new companies that were registered as a result of foreign investment.

These recently registered businesses are anticipated to decrease imports, increase domestic production, and contribute to closing the trade deficit.

Business

PSX reaches an all-time high as the KSE-100 Index surpasses 86,000 points.

Published

23 hours ago

Farwa

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has achieved a significant milestone, as the benchmark KSE-100 Index has attained an unprecedented peak.

On Tuesday at midday, the index ascended by 788 points, attaining a record high of 86,846 points. Following the ratification of the constitutional amendments, the stock market has increased by 1500 points over a span of two days.

Earlier today, the KSE-100 Index increased by 683 points, attaining a value of 86,741 points, before concluding at this new apex.

The bullish trend was apparent from the commencement of the trading session, with the index rising an additional 555 points to reach 86,612 points throughout the day. The reinstatement of the 86,500-point threshold signifies robust market performance.

Business

In three months, Pakistan’s IT exports increased by 33.54 percent.

Published

23 hours ago

Farwa

During the first three months of FY 2024-25 (July to September), Pakistan’s IT export remittances hit US$ 876 million, a notable 33.54 percent rise from US$ 656 million during the same period previous year (FY 2023-24).

In a statement, Minister of State for IT and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja stated that the amount of money sent home by the export of ICT services was US$ 292 million in September 2024, a 41.7% increase from US$ 206 million in the same month the previous year.

She stated that efforts to make it easier for businesses to conduct business in the nation are the reason why IT exports are rising and that actions are being taken to increase them.

In response to the Prime Minister’s directions, Shaza Fatima stated that the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication, the Pakistan Software Export Board, and the IT industry are dedicated to boosting IT exports with the full assistance of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

A trade surplus of US$ 764 million was recorded by the IT & ITeS sector in the first three months of FY 2024–25, accounting for 87.21 percent of all ICT export remittances.

Over the same period last year, this surplus represents a 36.67 percent gain over US$ 559 million. The services industry as a whole, however, experienced a trade deficit of US$ 699 million during this period.

The largest of all service sectors, ICT export remittances from July to September 2024, were US$ 656 million, followed by “other business services” at US$ 374 million.