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IMF to wait for ‘findings’ of mission in Pakistan for further engagement with Islamabad — spokesperson

IMF to wait for ‘findings’ of mission in Pakistan for further engagement with Islamabad — spokesperson
This handout photograph released by the Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance on May 13, 2024, shows Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb (L) meeting with a International Monetary Fund (IMF) review mission led by IMF mission official Nathan Porter (2R) at the Finance Ministry in Islamabad. (Photo courtesy: Ministry of Finance)
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Updated 17 May 2024
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IMF to wait for ‘findings’ of mission in Pakistan for further engagement with Islamabad — spokesperson

IMF to wait for ‘findings’ of mission in Pakistan for further engagement with Islamabad — spokesperson
  • An IMF team this week met top Pakistani officials in Islamabad to kickstart discussions on a fresh bailout
  • The cash-strapped South Asian country is expected to seek around $7-8 billion bailout from the global lender
Updated 17 May 2024
KHURSHID AHMED   
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KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday it would wait for findings of its mission, currently holding talks in Islamabad, for further engagement with Pakistan, which seeks a fresh bailout from the global lender.
The South Asian country, which has been facing low foreign exchange reserves, currency devaluation and high inflation, last month completed a short-term $3 billion IMF program that helped stave off a sovereign default, but the government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has stressed the need for a fresh, longer-term program.
While Islamabad has said it expects a staff-level agreement by July, both Pakistani and IMF officials have refrained from commenting on the size of the program. The South Asian country is expected to seek around $7-8 billion bailout from the global lender.
An IMF team, led by Mission Chief Nathan Porter, this week met Pakistan Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, central bank governor, chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue and other officials in Islamabad to kickstart discussions on the country’s further engagement with the lender.
“Right now, a mission team led by Nathan Porter, our Mission Chief, is meeting with the authorities this week to discuss the next phase of our engagement with Pakistan,” IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said at a press briefing on Thursday, when asked about the status of talks with Pakistan.
“Given that there is a mission on the ground, we will wait for them to complete their work and we will communicate the findings of the mission in due course.”
Pakistan narrowly averted a default last summer and its $350 billion economy has slightly stabilized after the completion of the last IMF program, with inflation coming down to around 17 percent in April from a record high of 38 percent in May last year.
However, the South Asian country is still dealing with a high fiscal shortfall and while it has controlled its external account deficit through import control mechanisms, it has come at the expense of stagnating growth, which is expected to be around 2 percent this year, compared to negative growth last year.
Wall Street Bank Citi expects Pakistan to reach an agreement with the IMF of up to $8 billion program by end-July, and recommends going long on the country’s 2027 international bond.
“While longer-term challenges pertain, we see several positive catalysts supporting the Eurobonds,” Nikola Apostolov at Citi wrote in a note to clients.
“First, a larger and longer IMF EFF (Extended Fund Facility) program could be finalized by July – possibly a $7-8 billion 4-year program and secondly and a possible inflow of Saudi investments,” Apostolov said after a team from Citi visited Pakistan and met policymakers, including Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb.
Citi said it expected Pakistan’s international 2027 bond to offer a sweet spot to investors with sufficient liquidity and large upside as risks of default dissipate further.

Topics: Pakistan IMF Talks Pakistan IMF IMF bailout IMF IMF Pakistan

Pakistan embassy in Riyadh hosts reception to mark Defense Day

Pakistan embassy in Riyadh hosts reception to mark Defense Day
Updated 55 sec ago
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Pakistan embassy in Riyadh hosts reception to mark Defense Day

Pakistan embassy in Riyadh hosts reception to mark Defense Day
  • Pakistan celebrates annual Defense Day on Sept. 6 to honor soldiers who fought 1965 war against India
  • The reception was attended by Saudi dignitaries as well as officials from Diplomatic, Military Corps
Updated 55 sec ago
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’ embassy in Saudi Arabia has held a reception in Riyadh to mark the country’s Defense Day, the embassy said on Saturday.
The South Asian country celebrates its Defense Day each year on September 6 to honor the soldiers who fought against India in the 1965 war.
“Dignitaries from Saudi Arabia and friends from Diplomatic and Military Corps widely attended the event,” the Pakistani embassy in Riyadh said on X.


Pakistan on Friday inducted two new warships, Babur and Hunain, into its naval fleet, as the nation marked its Defense Day.
Hunain is a multipurpose medium-sized offshore patrol vessel, equipped with state-of-the-art electronic warfare, anti-ship and anti-air warfare weapons, sensors, and self-protection and terminal defense system. The Babur-class corvette is a subclass of the Turkish MILGEM project. The corvette class is heavier and larger than the Turkish Ada-class corvette and also equipped with vertical launch systems.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf termed the induction of these ships a “major milestone in capacity building of PN [Pakistan Navy] Fleet,” Pakistan Navy said in a statement.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s Embassy in Abu Dhabi hosted a reception to mark Defense Day aboard Pakistan Navy Ship Shamsheer at the Cruise Terminal, Mina Zayed Port, the mission said in a statement.
Pakistan’s envoy to the UAE, Ambassador Faisal Niaz Tirmizi, along with Commodore Shahid Wasif SI (M), Mission Commander of the Pakistan Navy, welcomed chief guest General Salem Saeed Al Jabri, UAE’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Military and Security Affairs, and Brig. Abdullah Al Mohairbi, Deputy Commander of the UAE Navy, at the reception, which was attended by members of the diplomatic corps and officials of the UAE government.

Pakistan monsoon death toll nears 350 as more rains lash parts of country

Pakistan monsoon death toll nears 350 as more rains lash parts of country
Updated 53 min 25 sec ago
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Pakistan monsoon death toll nears 350 as more rains lash parts of country

Pakistan monsoon death toll nears 350 as more rains lash parts of country
  • The South Asian country has seen erratic weather changes blamed on climate change
  • Pakistan this year recorded its ‘wettest April since 1961,’ with 59.3 millimeters of rainfall
Updated 53 min 25 sec ago
Hasaan Ali Khan

ISLAMABAD: The death toll from rain-related incidents in Pakistan has jumped to 347 since the beginning of monsoon season in July, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Friday, adding another 648 people were wounded in disasters.
Monsoon rains are crucial for Pakistan’s agrarian economy, providing essential water for crops and replenishing water reservoirs.
However, the country has lately been experiencing increasingly erratic weather patterns, including harsh rains, heatwaves, droughts and floods.
“347 people including 54 females and 175 children lost their lives in monsoon rains [since July 1],” the NDMA said on Friday. “648 people including 153 females and 252 children were also injured.”
Monsoon downpours have completely destroyed 5,703 homes, while 31,803 houses were partially damaged since July 1, according to the authority.
More showers lashed Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore and several other cities in Pakistan late Friday.
Scientists have blamed the erratic weather changes in Pakistan on climate change. This year, the South Asian country recorded its “wettest April since 1961,” with 59.3 millimeters of rainfall, while some areas of the country faced deadly heatwaves in May and June.
In 2022, unusually heavy rains triggered floods in many parts of the country, killing over 1,700 people, inflicting economic losses of around $30 billion, and affecting at least 30 million people.

Topics: monsoon 2024

Pakistani father defies social norms, educates 13 daughters to master’s level in conservative northwest

Pakistani father defies social norms, educates 13 daughters to master’s level in conservative northwest
Updated 19 min 14 sec ago
NAZAR ISLAM
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Pakistani father defies social norms, educates 13 daughters to master’s level in conservative northwest

Pakistani father defies social norms, educates 13 daughters to master’s level in conservative northwest
  • Fazal Haq, who could not attend college, secured three postgraduate degrees himself before educating children
  • The 82-year-old academic braved resistance, threats of disownment by family to educate all 17 of his children
Updated 19 min 14 sec ago
NAZAR ISLAM

PESHAWAR: For Fazal Haq, a Pakistani octogenarian academic who grew up in the country’s conservative northwest, acquiring education was not merely a personal pursuit, but a gateway to empowerment and self-reliance for his children, especially daughters.
In an era when the idea of education was a rare privilege in Pakistan’s northwestern Karak district, Haq stood as a beacon of progressive thinking by sending his first-born daughter, Nighat Parveen, to school in the 1970s.
Although he never formally attended college, the 82-year-old pursued private studies, ultimately earning postgraduate degrees in Arabic, Urdu literature, and Islamic studies, before educating all of his 13 daughters and four sons.
“Fewer men attended school during his time, and the notion of women pursuing education was virtually unheard of,” he told Arab News this week. “Yet, despite societal constraints, I made a pioneering decision to send my daughter [Parveen] to school against the societal norms.”

In this photo, taken on September 5, 2024, Pakistani academic Fazal Haq, 82, reads a newspaper in his village in Karak district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during an interview with Arab News. Haq defies social norms and educates 13 daughters to master’s level in conservative northwest. (AN Photo)

Haq said his groundbreaking choice initially seemed promising and his daughters’ early education proceeded smoothly but as they grew older, the murmurs of dissent within his family became louder.
Relatives questioned his wisdom for educating his girls and the resistance escalated to threats of disownment, but Haq said he remained resolute and his daughter achieved prominent positions in both her 8th and 10th grade exams, outshining many in their area. Her academic success reinforced Haq’s belief in his decision.
“That was a big relief, I would say one of my happiest moments,” Haq said, recalling how his extended family members had distanced themselves from him for sending his daughter to high school.
Parveen, who passed her matriculation exam in 1986, told Arab News that initially, she did not grasp the vitality of education and only saw herself fulfilling her father’s mission on a path fraught with obstacles.
“I would often find myself as the only girl in a classroom full of boys. Sitting in a corner, isolated from my peers, I faced the weight of societal scrutiny and the discomfort of being an ‘outsider’,” she said.
“The psychological toll of being the only girl in a boys’ class was immense, but I remained steadfast in the pursuit of education.”

In this photo, taken on September 5, 2024, Nighat Parveen, daughter of Pakistani academic Fazal Haq, gestures outside a government school in her village in Karak district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during an interview with Arab News. Haq, 82, defies social norms and educates 13 daughters to master’s level in conservative northwest. (AN Photo)

Parveen today stands as a testament to the power of perseverance and the importance of education as she serves as the principal of Government Girls’ High School in Karak, shaping the minds of future generations.
She set the bar high for all 16 of her siblings — 12 sisters and four brothers — who now have master’s degrees in disciplines as varied as English Literature, Political Science, History, Botany, Zoology, and Physics. All of Haq’s daughters are currently serving as government teachers.
Haq sees education as a gateway to empowerment and self-reliance for women, contrary to the perception in rural communities that believe investing in daughters’ education would benefit the “other household” to which they are wedded off.
“Education equips women with knowledge and confidence to contribute actively to their family’s economic affairs, eliminating the need to depend on others for financial support,” he said.

In this photo, taken on September 5, 2024, Pakistani academic Fazal Haq, 82, gestures for a photograph with his son in his village in Karak district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, during an interview with Arab News. Haq defies social norms and educates 13 daughters to master’s level in conservative northwest. (AN Photo)

Haq’s wife, Jahan Bano, did not have a formal education, but her journey alongside her husband reflects a profound transformation. Her ability to converse in English and engage in discussions about politics demonstrates her intellectual growth and confidence in expressing herself.
Both Haq and Bano feel proud that their perspective about women education, which was once widely disapproved by the society, has been embraced by those very critics.
“At this later stage of life, when I watch young girls in school uniforms going to school, college, and university from my balcony, I feel a strange sense of happiness,” Haq added.

Pakistani minister says government renegotiating power deals to cut electricity tariffs

Pakistani minister says government renegotiating power deals to cut electricity tariffs
Updated 07 September 2024
Reuters
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Pakistani minister says government renegotiating power deals to cut electricity tariffs

Pakistani minister says government renegotiating power deals to cut electricity tariffs
  • Energy sector viability has been the focus of a critical staff level pact with the IMF for a $7 billion bailout
  • Awais Leghari says government wants to bring down tariffs from 28 cents to 9 cents for commercial users
Updated 07 September 2024
Reuters

KARACHI: Pakistan is renegotiating contracts with independent power producers to rein in “unsustainable” electricity tariffs, the head of the power ministry said, as households and businesses buckle under soaring energy costs.
Rising power tariffs have stirred social unrest and shuttered industries in the $350 billion economy, which has contracted twice in recent years as inflation hit record highs.
“The existing price structure of power in this country is not sustainable,” Awais Leghari, a federal minister heading Pakistan’s Power Division, told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
He said discussions were under way between power producers and the government because “there is a clear understanding on both sides that the status quo can’t be maintained.”
Leghari stressed that all stakeholders would have to “give in to a certain point” — though without compromising completely on business sustainability — and this would have to be done “as soon as possible.”
Faced with chronic shortages a decade ago, Pakistan approved dozens of private projects by independent power producers (IPPs), financed mostly by foreign lenders. The incentivized deals included high guaranteed returns and commitments to even pay for unused power.
However, a sustained economic crisis has slashed power consumption, leaving the country with excess capacity that it needs to pay for.
Short of funds, the government has built those fixed costs and capacity payments into consumer bills, sparking protests by domestic users and industrial associations.
Four sources in the power sector told Reuters changes to contracts demanded included slashing guaranteed returns, capping dollar rates and moving away from paying for unused power. The sources requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
On Saturday, local media outlet Business Recorder said in a report citing sources that 24 conditions have been proposed for the transition of capacity-based model to take-and-pay model.
However, Leghari told Reuters that no new draft agreements or specific demands had been officially sent to power companies and said the government would not force them to sign new watered down contracts.
“We would sit and talk to them in a civil and professional manner,” he said, adding that the government has always maintained contractual obligations to investors, both foreign and local. He said contract revisions would be by “mutual consent.”
Energy sector viability was the focus of a critical staff level pact in May with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $7 billion bailout. The IMF’s staff report stressed the need to revisit power deals.
Pakistan has already initiated talks on reprofiling power sector debt owed to China as well as negotiations on structural reforms, but progress has been slow. Pakistan has also committed to stop power sector subsidies.
Leghari said current rates were not affordable for domestic or commercial consumers and this was hurting growth because power prices were no longer regionally competitive, putting critical exports at a disadvantage.
He said the aim was to bring tariffs down to 9 US cents per unit for commercial users from about 28 cents currently.

Topics: Pakistan electricity

Pakistan air chief pledges advancement in space, cyber warfare at Martyrs’ Day ceremony

Pakistan air chief pledges advancement in space, cyber warfare at Martyrs’ Day ceremony
Updated 07 September 2024
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Pakistan air chief pledges advancement in space, cyber warfare at Martyrs’ Day ceremony

Pakistan air chief pledges advancement in space, cyber warfare at Martyrs’ Day ceremony
  • Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Sidhu says the nation owes ‘eternal debt of gratitude’ to martyrs of armed forces
  • Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also pays tribute to the families of ‘courageous air warriors’ to mark the occasion
Updated 07 September 2024
Arab News Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Chief Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu said on Saturday the country is committed to advancing in space, cyber and electronic warfare to safeguard the territorial integrity of the South Asian nation, according to the military’s media wing.
He made these remarks while addressing the Martyrs’ Day ceremony at the Air Headquarters in Islamabad as the chief guest on September 7.
Historically, this date was marked as PAF Day, celebrating the air force’s contributions, particularly during the 1965 war.
In recent years, however, the day has evolved into Martyrs’ Day to honor the bravery and sacrifice of armed forces personnel who laid down their lives in various conflicts, including the wars of 1965 and 1971.
“The air chief pledged that PAF would continue to strive hard for the advancement in space, electronic warfare, cyber, niche technologies and indigenous defense capability to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations ISPR, said in a statement.
He said the PAF had a proud history of sacrifice, valor and professionalism, calling the Martyrs’ Day an “embodiment of exceptional bravery, flawless professionalism, and an unparalleled spirit of sacrifice” rendered by the armed forces.
“We owe our heroes an eternal debt of gratitude for what they have done for us, setting a supreme example of sacrifice for generations to come,” the air chief said. “On this solemn occasion, we extend our heartfelt tributes to those heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our motherland.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also paid tribute to the courageous air warriors and their families earlier in the day.
“Pakistan takes pride in the courage, dedication, and commitment demonstrated by its Air Force,” he said in a social media post. “Their exceptional service and prowess ensure that our skies are safe and their determination and valour contribute to a stronger Pakistan.”

 

Topics: Defense Day pakistan air force

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