The current government has a legacy of political and economic crises. Economic and business activities in Pakistan have been affected due to political instability. During this time, energy shortage also emerged as a problem, especially due to the rising electricity prices, the common man is being badly affected.
The current government’s economic team worked with better discipline and planning, the results of which are gradually coming. Pakistan’s relationship of trust with international financial institutions has improved. IMF and World Bank are continuously cooperating with Pakistan.
As a result, the country has entered a period of economic stability as evidenced by improving foreign exchange reserves and declining interest rates. General inflation, especially electricity inflation, is still there, but the efforts made by the government in this matter are also visible.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has addressed the review meeting yesterday, in this address he directed to speed up the implementation of the plan regarding the production projects to make electricity more affordable and said that in the future low cost power projects should be given priority. go
Addressing the review meeting, he said that priority should be given to local resources for projects. Hydropower projects are a means of providing environment-friendly and affordable electricity to consumers. The current capacity of electricity should also be transferred to solar energy, electricity is being generated from environmentally friendly low cost solar energy all over the world.
Pakistan is fortunate to have vast potential for solar energy. The Prime Minister has also been apprised of the progress on decommissioning inefficient power plants that generate less electricity from more fuel.
The Piranhas directed immediate closure of outdated power plants producing less electricity from more fuel, which would not only save valuable foreign exchange spent on importing fuel but also reduce the cost of electricity to the consumer.
The Prime Minister has made it clear that immediate action should be taken against all such officers who are creating obstacles in electricity reforms, the implementation of reforms in the transmission system should be speedy and developed on modern lines as per international standards.
The Prime Minister directed to ensure the early implementation of the modern technology system for the selection and delivery of low-cost electricity.
Meanwhile, according to a news, the federal government has decided to terminate power purchase agreements with 6 more IPPs, which will save 300 billion rupees.
The media has said with reference to the sources that the government has decided to terminate the 2396 MW power purchase agreements with 6 more IPPs that generate expensive electricity, which is expected to save 300 billion rupees.
Termination of these contracts will reduce the electricity tariff. Earlier, the government has terminated contracts with 13 IPPs.
To accelerate the pace of business and industrial development in Pakistan, it is very important to make all sources of energy cheaper. Pakistan is currently generating very expensive electricity.
It is gratifying that the electricity matters with the IPPs are progressing smoothly and the positive effects will be seen soon. Along with this, the use of solar energy is also increasing.
Especially in Punjab, the rate of use of solar energy is the highest in the whole country. The Punjab government is also working very hard in this regard. Solar energy is also cheap and its losses are negligible.
Along with this, work on other sources of energy at the provincial level is the need of the hour. Pakistan is currently generating electricity from coal. This electricity is not environment friendly. Therefore, it is necessary that Pakistan should start working towards green energy at a faster pace.
There is a need to focus on biogas energy in villages. In this way, cheap energy for lighting and cooking will be available in the rural area and the farmer’s expenses will also be reduced.
Federal Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb while addressing the meeting of the Committee for IT Exports and Remittances has said that the importance of information technology sector in economic development is key and IT exports can become a major source of foreign exchange.
He said that long-term policies and goal-oriented reforms are needed to achieve the full potential of IT exports.
During the meeting, it was told that more than 23 lakh freelancers have a share of 15% in IT exports, only 38 thousand of them have bank accounts, most of their income does not come into the country, for this, tax exemptions, remote working Hierarchy and need to solve the problems of small IT companies.
According to State Bank, only 500 new accounts are opened every week, all freelancers need to be included in the process.
In the meeting, emphasis was placed on the use of Roshan digital accounts and access to global gateway PayPal and it was decided that a working group consisting of representatives of FBR, State Bank, Ministry of IT, Pasha and freelancers will be formed to resolve the issues. It will work on identifying, increasing transparency, ensuring progress in the initiatives of all stakeholders.
Reiterating the government’s commitment to the development of the IT sector, the Finance Minister urged all partners to work for the promotion of IT exports and an active competitive role in the global IT industry.
Due to the new inventions and innovations that are coming out in IT, the pace of economic and business development has become very fast. Pakistan should try hard to go further in this field. In order to cope with rising inflation, it is necessary to increase the income of the middle and lower classes.
This growth is possible through the combination and collaboration of small businesses and IT. In India and China, the size of the middle class has increased because of this. Pakistan should also plan to provide modern training and information to its skilled workers.
In Punjab, a program has been launched to train electricians and plumbers, from masons to household electric wiring, which is the need of the hour.
If the contractors, raj misters, plumbers, electricians, tile fixers and steel fixers working in the construction industry in Pakistan have modern technology in their work, there can be revolutionary changes in the construction industry.
A building that takes a year to complete can easily be completed in six months if trained skilled workers do the work. This will increase the speed of work and also increase the income of the workforce and the quality of work.
Currently, Pakistan’s construction industry is running in the old way. From shuttering to cement plaster, the use of technology is negligible.
Developed countries, especially China, have revolutionized the construction industry. Apart from this, federal and provincial governments should also create a mechanism regarding construction materials.
The rates of construction materials should be fixed and this should be done at the government level. The current situation is that there is no role of the federal or provincial government in determining the prices of construction materials. Different cartels set their own rates.
Due to this, the construction cost is continuously increasing. There is no standard for determining the prices of imported materials specifically. Each brand has its own price. There is no recognition or guarantee of genuine and fake.
The government should legislate in this regard. If a vendor is selling an item imported from China, it should be banned from listing its quality and price.
Similarly, if something is being imported from Europe, its price should also be fixed. If a company manufactures an item locally and passes it off as imported from Europe, there should be legislation to discourage such practices.
