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Business Recorder
26-05-2025
- Business Recorder
Substantial quantity of betel nuts seized
KARACHI: The Anti-Smuggling Squad (ASO) of Karachi Customs Enforcement has seized substantial quantity of betel nuts. According to the details, the operation took place at the Mochko checkpoint on RCD Highway, where customs enforcement personnel conducting routine inspections flagged a suspicious trailer coming from Hub, Balochistan. The vehicle, bearing registration number TKT 427, was found to be carrying illegal cargo of betel nuts concealed beneath & between tuff tiles. Upon thorough examination, officials discovered 290 bags of betel nuts, weighing approximately 3,000kg (3 tons), with an estimated value of Rs2.4 million. The contraband had been cleverly hidden within the legitimate cargo of tuff tiles in an attempt to evade detection. In addition to seizing the illegal betel nuts, customs authorities also impounded the trailer used in the smuggling operation, valued at Rs10 million. The combined value of the seized items totals Rs12.4 million. The confiscated materials and trailer have been transferred to the ASO warehouse for further processing. Customs authorities have registered a case and initiated legal proceedings against those involved in the smuggling attempt. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Business Recorder
08-05-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
A market in name only
EDITORIAL: The Power Division's latest invitation for stakeholder comments on the long-touted Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) would be laughable, were the state of Pakistan's power sector not so dire. For years, the same reforms have been announced, reannounced, and endlessly recycled through public consultations and draft directives. Now, yet again, the country is being told that competitive electricity trading is just around the corner — with a token 800MW to kick-start liberalisation. The irony is staggering. In a sector drowning in circular debt, inefficiencies, and wilful defaulters, this obsession with process over outcome has become a cruel joke. The National Electricity Plan (NEP) 2023–27 was never going to be a silver bullet. But when some of its key directives, like #87, are being reworded not to enable reform, but to better structure cost recovery for legacy failures, the intent becomes transparent: this isn't liberalisation; it's rearranging the furniture while the house burns. The Power Division's proposed amendment now seeks comments on how to allocate stranded costs — the inevitable fallout of prior bad planning — onto new market participants. This, at a time when the International Monetary Fund is pressing for efficiency in distribution companies, not further bureaucratic entanglements. Why is this model, already discussed to death, being thrown back into public consultation? What more is there to extract from stakeholders who, in many cases, are the very reason the sector is where it is today? The answer lies in a systemic addiction to appearances. These consultations serve primarily to project the illusion of progress, of inclusion, of reform through consensus. But consensus with whom? Several of these 'stakeholders' are themselves serial defaulters, culprits behind the power sector's financial rot, and habitual opponents of reform whenever it threatens their rent-seeking arrangements. The circular debt continues to spiral, now breaching Rs2.4 trillion, while technical losses remain high and recovery ratios pitiful. Despite all the planning documents, task forces, and workshops, the fundamentals refuse to improve. This should prompt a reckoning with the assumptions underpinning the CTBCM itself. Instead, we get redrafted directives and a fresh round of comments — this time with a five-year window for liberalisation and complex caveats for cost recovery, hedging, and hybrid sourcing. Meanwhile, the market stays inert, confidence erodes, and industrial consumers remain hostage to poor governance and predatory pricing. The Power Division's new language emphasises 'balancing financial viability, affordability, and competition.' These are admirable goals, but impossible to achieve in a sector where the price of electricity includes embedded costs for idle capacity contracted under take-or-pay agreements, pilferage, bloated payrolls, and cross-subsidies. Penalising new entrants into the market by saddling them with stranded costs is not liberalization — it's a deterrent. It creates disincentives for investment, distorts price signals, and entrenches the worst aspects of the current system under the guise of reform. The concerns raised by the Korangi Association of Trade and Industry (KATI) are therefore not incidental. They strike at the core contradiction of the CTBCM process: a competitive market cannot function when its rules are retrofitted to protect incumbents. Making new entrants shoulder the costs of past mismanagement — particularly when they had no hand in creating it — undermines the very purpose of transitioning to open access. It's little surprise that the private sector remains wary of participation, and even less surprising that reform fatigue has set in. What's even more worrying is the Power Division's willingness to caveat reforms with broad exemptions, conditionalities, and budget-dependent subsidies that render the new model barely distinguishable from the old. If open access is contingent on fiscal space, third-party consultants, and future frameworks yet to be written, then it is neither open nor accessible. It's policy theatre. Pakistan's power sector does not need more discussions. It needs decisions — backed by enforcement. It needs accountability for the billions in capacity payments, theft, and non-recovery. And it needs a clear break from the model of state-managed dysfunction dressed up as market reform. Until that happens, the CTBCM — however well-packaged — will remain a market in name only. Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
Express Tribune
05-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Power dues adjustment via NFC
The Power Minister said that the circular debt was also almost stagnant due to the better performance. He said that compared to the estimates of adding Rs411 billion in the flow of the circular debt, there were only Rs2 billion additions during the first nine months of this fiscal year. The total circular debt stood a little under Rs2.4 trillion. PHOTO: REUTERS The federal government on Monday reviewed the possibility of adjusting provincial reconciled outstanding electricity bills' dues against their shares under the National Finance Commission award, after limiting power sector losses to Rs221 billion, down by 40%. The Power Division shared the performance of the power distribution companies with the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, which showed a mixed result in reducing losses and improving collection of the bills. Where there was still some increase in distribution losses, the recoveries did improve during July-March period of this fiscal year, showed the official record shared with the ECC. The ECC instructed the Power Division to further improve the fiscal position of these companies, as both the losses and recoveries were still in breach of the targets given by the power sector regulator; the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). Compared to the estimates of adding Rs390 billion in the power sectors losses during July-March period, the increase was 221 billion, said Sardar Awais Laghari, the Federal Minister for Power while talking to The Express Tribune. The Minister added that even compared to the same period of the last fiscal year, the losses were Rs143 billion, or 40% less. This showed that the boards of these distribution companies were on track to achieve their targets, except for Hyderabad and Sukkur, said the Power Minister. Last year, the government had replaced the boards of the power distribution companies but did not touch Hyderabad and Sukkur boards due to an understanding reached with the Pakistan Peoples Party. The Minister said that after improving recoveries from the private sector, his ministry has now sought the Finance Ministry's help in recovering outstanding dues from federal and provincial governments. In December, the federal government had asked all four provincial governments to clear their electricity bills amounting to Rs150 billion to avoid power cuts and financial losses to the national economy. Sindh tops the list with payables totalling Rs59.7 billion as of September last year, followed by Balochistan's Rs39.6 billion and Punjab's Rs38 billion, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the lowest electricity payables amounting to Rs8.9 billion. A Finance Ministry official said that there was a mechanism available to adjust only those dues, which are reconciled and confirmed by the provincial governments. These payments are adjusted against the NFC dues but only when these are confirmed by the provinces, he added. According to the information shared with the ECC, compared to 15.14% losses during the first nine months of the last year, the figure slightly jumped to 15.7% this March. The reason behind the increase was the poor performance of Quetta, Sukkur, Hyderabad, Gujranwala and Lahore. The Faisalabad, Islamabad, Multan, Peshawar and Tribal districts companies reduced their losses compared to the last year. The bills' recoveries improved from 92% to 93.8% this March because of better performance of all companies except tribal districts, Hyderabad and Sukkur firms. The Power Minister said that the circular debt was also almost stagnant due to the better performance. He said that compared to the estimates of adding Rs411 billion in the flow of the circular debt, there were only Rs2 billion additions during the first nine months of this fiscal year. The total circular debt stood a little under Rs2.4 trillion. Among other decisions, the ECC took up a summary submitted by the Petroleum Division for extension in the validity period of sovereign guarantees issued against running finance facilities of Rs50 billion obtained from banks for LNG payments by the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL). The Committee discussed the matter and approved extension up to June 2026 of the said sovereign guarantees, on the basis of improved cash flows of the company, according to the Finance Ministry. The ECC also considered a summary by the Power Division regarding the solarisation of 27,000 agriculture tube-wells in Balochistan, as decided by the Prime Minister on 2nd July 2024, at an estimated cost of Rs55 billion. The 70% subsidy has to be borne by the federal government. The ECC was told that an amount of Rs14 billion has already been released by the federal government while the remaining Rs24.5 billion was approved on Monday. Furthermore, the ECC further instructed the Power Division to closely monitor implementation of key components of the project, particularly the disconnection of tube-wells from the grid and removal of transformers and fixtures for every batch of feeders, as agreed under the project. The ECC also directed the Power Division to report back the progress on this account to ECC, in July.
Express Tribune
05-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
LHC orders cane commissioner to resolve dues issue
The Lahore High Court (LHC) has directed the Cane Commissioner of Punjab to resolve within two weeks a payment dispute involving a sugar mill and a local farmer, who claims the mill has failed to clear sugarcane dues exceeding Rs2.4 million. Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza passed the directive on a petition filed by Amir Farooq, a farmer who alleged that the Ramzan Sugar Mills administration was deliberately delaying payment for sugarcane supplied, despite repeated reminders. Farooq's counsel told the court that the farmer had delivered sugarcane worth Rs2.464 million to the mill, but the administration had been using delaying tactics under various pretexts, rather than fulfilling its legal obligation to clear the dues.
Express Tribune
05-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
SBP pumps nearly Rs3 trillion into market
Listen to article The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has conducted Open Market Operations (OMO), injecting approximately Rs2.94 trillion into the banking system. This liquidity injection comprised two separate operations, both with a seven-day tenor. The larger portion, Rs2.4 trillion, was injected through a conventional Reverse Repo Purchase operation, accepting all 22 quotes at a rate of 12.07% per annum. Additionally, the SBP conducted a Shariah-Compliant Mudarabah-Based OMO injection, accepting all 10 quotes for Rs5.6 billion at 12.09% per annum. The Pakistani rupee posted a slight gain against the US dollar on Friday, appreciating by 0.03% in the interbank market. By the end of the trading session, the local currency closed at 280.47, registering an increase of nine paisas from the previous day's close of 280.56. Globally, the US dollar struggled to recover, while the yen, a safe-haven asset, hovered near a six-month high on Friday. This came as markets reacted to the economic implications of President Donald Trump's newly introduced tariffs. Zafar Paracha, President of the Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan, noted that record corporate profits and repatriations by banks and multinationals are putting pressure on the rupee. Due to the passing of a central member's son, gold prices in Pakistan were not released by the All-Pakistan Gems and Jewellers Sarafa Association (APGJSA). However, the gold market has been experiencing significant fluctuations. Internationally, gold prices fell nearly 2% on Friday as traders liquidated their bullion positions following wider market sell-offs after China retaliated with fresh tariffs against Trump's sweeping levies. Spot gold was down 1.9% at $3,053.98 an ounce after hitting a record high of $3,167.57 on Thursday. US gold futures declined 1.6% to $3,072.10. Analysts said investors were selling gold to cover losses in other asset classes prompted by margin calls. The Pakistani gold market saw a sharp price correction today following several days of strong gains, according to Adnan Agar, Director at Interactive Commodities. Agar reported that gold reached a high of $3,136 before falling to a low of $3,026. By his analysis, the market was hovering around $3,032. He attributed the broader instability to global factors, particularly Trump's trade tariffs. Heavy selling pressure was observed in the market over the past two days. "The faster it went up, the faster it's likely to come down," Agar said, as the market remains in a lowered position following the correction.
