Failed Terrorist State of Pakistan: Idiotic Musings

Corvus Splendens

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A single large Loco depot in India houses and maintains more locomotives than Bangladesh and paxtan have combined.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
World's 4th largest railway network with 85% electrification being compared with a banana republic with less than 200 locomotives in service. paxtan a country that can't even make a wagon on their own is surely on the same footing as the largest indigenous coach and locomotive maker in the world.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works alone manufactures more locomotives (400+) per year than Bangladesh has total in service.:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
Defence ? Compete with each other ? paxtan is not even competition. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
paxtan still performing good ? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
 

Swesh

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No gas for hearth or home on first day of Ramazan
Dawn Report Published March 24, 2023 Updated about 7 hours ago




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 LAHORE: A volunteer prepares iftar at the Data Darbar shrine on the first day of Ramazan, on Thursday.—AFP

LAHORE: A volunteer prepares iftar at the Data Darbar shrine on the first day of Ramazan, on Thursday.—AFP

KARACHI: Natural gas disappeared from people’s stoves as soon as the Ramazan moon was sighted, leaving people in Karachi, Quetta and Rawalpindi high and dry on the first day of the holy month.
Although the government had announced that gas would be available to consumers for sehr and iftar, citizens from areas across the country complained of low and no gas pressure throughout the day.

An official announcement from Sui Southern had announced timings for what it called “gas profiling” during the month of Ramazan.
Although the statement assured consumers they would be provided gas at sehr and iftar time, the company cited a shortfall in its system because of a yearly 8-9pc decline in the country’s gas reserves.

“For this purpose, to ensure better gas pressure, gas profiling will continue from 8am to 2:30pm,” SSGC added.
Saba Naveed, a resident of Lyari, told Dawn.com there has been no gas at her house for nearly four months now.
“When you switch on the stove, there is only a stale smell that comes out of it … there is no gas pressure at all,” the mother of three said, adding that her family has permanently shifted to using gas cylinders.
Saba elaborated that a 2.5kg gas cylinder costs her Rs600, which lasts for nearly two weeks. “It is not just about the money … it is a real risk using a gas cylinder with three children — under the age of 10 — around,” she said.
SSGC spokesperson Safdar Khooharo told Dawn that the company had not resorted to load shedding anywhere in the country, but pointed out that certain areas may face low pressure, partly because around 20 million to 20.5 million stoves are turned on at the same time ahead of sehri. “Thus, old lines of gas may face low pressure,” Mr Khooharo added.
Rawalpindi
The situation was no different in the garrison city, where Ali Abbas, a resident of Dhoke Ratta, said locals had lodged complaints at the Sui Northern Rawalpindi office, but officials were not taking the matter seriously.
He blamed the mushroom growth of CNG filling stations on an adjoining road for the low pressure, claiming that these were provided gas from the main line meant for domestic consumers.
Mohammad Tauqeer, a resident of Arya Mohallah, told Dawn he had to buy coal to cook food as gas was not available after midnight in his area.
Officials at the SNGPL regional office said there was a gap between demand and supply as the domestic load increased three times in Ramazan.
They said the company was giving priority to domestic consumers under the special directives of the federal government and promised that the situation would improve in the coming days.
Balochistan
Like Karachi, many parts of Quetta also remained without gas supply on the first day of Ramazan. “We had no other option when we woke up and found no gas pressure to cook sehri,” Abdullah Zehri, a resident of Jail Road, told Dawn.
The Jinnah Road, Kasi Road, Jail Road, Jinnah Town and Model Town areas faced low gas pressure issues, while localities on the outskirts of the provincial capital faced complete suspension and unannounced load shedding on the very first day of Ramadan.
Reports from Pishin, Ziarat, Mastung, Kalat, Sibi, Bolan and other towns also facing load shedding and low gas pressure.
Muzhira Amin and Imtiaz Ali in Karachi, Aamir Yasin in Islamabad and Saleem Shahid in Quetta also contributed to this report
Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2023
 

Swesh

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Exports to nine regional states dip 18pc
Mubarak Zeb Khan Published March 24, 2023 Updated about 8 hours ago




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ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be a steady decline, Pakistan’s exports to nine regional countries shrank 18.28 per cent in the first eight months of FY23 mainly driven by a drop in shipments to China, data compiled by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) showed on Thursday.
The decline is not confined to exports but imports especially from China also saw a deep decline during the current fiscal year. As part of government austerity measures, imported containers are awaiting clearance as the opening of letters of credit for consumers’ goods is the least priority of the government.
The country’s exports to Afghanistan, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Iran, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives dipped to $2.414 billion — just 12.92pc of Pakistan’s total exports of $18.bn in July-February FY23.
China tops the list of Pakistan’s regional exports leaving other populous countries India and Bangladesh behind. But Pakistan’s exports to China posted negative growth in the first 8MFY23 on a year-on-year basis. The bulk of the regional exports share, which accounts for 55.26pc, is with China while the remaining is for eight countries.

Pakistan’s exports to China declined 27.53pc to $1.334 in July-Feb FY23 from $1.841bn in 8MFY22. The decrease in export proceeds was noted for the first time in the post-Covid period. However, the imports from China also declined by 37.38pc to $7.066bn on a year-on-year basis during the months under review.
Pakistan’s exports to Afghanistan posted a positive growth of 17pc to $346.52m in July-Feb from $296.10m in July-Feb 2021. Till a few years ago, Afghanistan was the second major export destination for Pakistan after the United States. The export figures did not include proceeds materialised through the land routes.
The exports to Afghanistan started to decline in August 2021. The government has allowed imports and exports from Afghanistan in the rupee in the post-Taliban regime period. The figures did not reflect those imports made in rupees.
Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2023
 

Swesh

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One killed, eight injured in stampede over free flour in Charsadda
Police say hundreds of people had gathered at a distribution point for free flour on the first day of Ramazan


AFPMarch 23, 2023

photo inp file

PHOTO: INP/FILE
One person was killed and eight others injured during a stampede for free flour in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa's Charsadda on Thursday, the first day of the holy month of Ramazan.
The price of basic food items has rocketed in recent months, with inflation at a near 50 year-high as the country grapples with a balance of payments crisis that has seen it forced back into negotiations with the International Monetary Fund.

"Nine people were trampled and were taken to hospital where one person died," said Muhammad Arif, police chief for Charsadda.

Arif said that hundreds of people gathered at the local market for the handouts, one of hundreds of distribution points set up by the government during Ramazan.
Millions of low-income families across the country are registered under the scheme.
In a nearby district, a man died and four others were injured when a wall they were sitting on collapsed as crowds amassed for free flour.
Authorities told AFP it was not clear why the wall collapsed.
Pakistan's finances have been wrecked by years of financial mismanagement and political instability -- a situation exacerbated by a global energy crisis and devastating floods that left a third of the country under water last year.
The nation is deeply in debt, and needs to introduce tough tax and utility price increases to unlock another tranche of a $6.5 billion IMF bail-out and avoid defaulting.
 

Swesh

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Pakistan has to repay close to $3bn in next quarter

Pakistan will have to devise another plan if IMF does not offer SLA.
Sources say these were tentative numbers as repayments might vary due to exchange rate movements.
In the ongoing quarter, Pakistan made debt repayments of $5.4bn.
ISLAMABAD: Amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the country’s external debt servicing requirements for repaying principal and mark-up in dollar amounts will be standing at approximately $3 billion in the last quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal year, reported The News.

In an important development, Pakistani authorities confirmed that China has granted its approval for the rollover of SAFE deposits of $2 billion.

“Yes,” was a brief response given by a Finance Ministry official to the publication when asked about the rollover. The deposit was scheduled to mature today (Thursday).

Pakistan will have to repay close to $3 billion in the last quarter (April-June) of the current fiscal year as part of its external debt obligations. Pakistani authorities will have to devise a plan B if the IMF does not offer the staff-level agreement.

When contacted, an official said, “We would devise a Plan B if Plan A does not work. Plan A is reviving the IMF programme.”

According to details available with The News, Pakistan would have to repay in the shape of principal and mark-up amounts of $316 million in April 2023. This external debt repayment amount would increase up to $753 million in May 2023. In June 2023, the total external debt servicing requirements will jump up to $1.894 billion.

This external debt servicing requirement does not include IMF’s repayments. However, sources said that these were tentative numbers of external debt repayments which might vary due to exchange rate movements.

Pakistan has been experiencing a double-edged sword as on the one side, the country would have to repay $23 billion in external debt servicing, including rollovers, and on other hand, the capability of fetching dollars in the shape of foreign loans also shrank significantly.

Pakistan’s total external debt servicing requirements stood at $23 billion for the current fiscal year. In the ongoing quarter (Jan-March) period of the current fiscal year, the total debt servicing requirements on the external front were estimated at $5.462 billion.

It includes principal repayment amounts of $5.03 billion such as repayments of $761.1 million and the second amount of $874.73 million, totalling the principal amount going up to $1.635 billion.

There are another two repayments in the shape of a principal amount to the tune of $1.4 billion and another $2 billion as Chinese SAFE deposits.

In the shape of interest repayments on the external front, it stood at $428.88 million including $147.38 million, and $189.15 million making the total amount $336.5 million. There are two other markup repayments of $72.19 million and $18.16 million, so the total markup amounts would climb to $426.88 million.

There is another challenge as the country’s capability to generate dollar inflows in the shape of loans was slashed significantly as Islamabad could only secure only $7.4 billion in the first eight months (July-Feb) period of the current fiscal year against over $12 billion in the same period of the last financial year, registering a decline by over 39%.

 

Swesh

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A time will come when Shahbaz will ask imf weather he can go to Loo or not🤣😂😂😂😂


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Pakistan’s new fuel subsidy scheme needs to be agreed before deal: IMF
Reuters | Dawn.com Published March 24, 2023 Updated 42 minutes ago




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A long-awaited loan agreement between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be signed once a few remaining points, including a proposed fuel pricing scheme, are settled, an IMF official confirmed on Friday.

The coalition government and IMF have been negotiating since early February on an agreement that would release $1.1 billion to the cash-strapped country of 220 million people.

The latest issue is a plan, announced by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week, to charge affluent consumers more for fuel, with the money raised used to subsidise prices for the poor, who have been hit hard by inflation, which in February was at its highest in 50 years.

Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik told Reuters on Thursday that his ministry had been given six weeks to work out the pricing plan.

But the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, Esther Perez Ruiz, said the government did not consult the fund about the fuel pricing scheme.😂🤣😂

Ruiz, in a message to Reuters, confirmed a media report that a staff-level agreement would be signed once a few remaining points, including the fuel scheme, were settled.

She added that the fund would ask the government for more details about the fuel proposal, including how it would be implemented and what protection would be put in place to prevent abuse.

The petroleum and finance ministries did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

With enough foreign reserves to only cover about four weeks of necessary imports, Pakistan is desperate for the IMF agreement to disperse a $1.1 billion tranche from a $6.5 billion bailout agreed upon in 2019.

The government has already implemented several fiscal measures, including devaluing the rupee, lifting subsidies and raising energy prices as preconditions for the agreement, which Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said this month was “very close”.

‘External partners’
Meanwhile, Julie Kozack, director of communications at the IMF, said in a press briefing yesterday that “timely financial assistance from external partners will be critical to support the authorities’ policy efforts and ensure the successful completion of the review”.

When asked to elaborate on what is needed from the said external partners, Kozack said: “At this point, ensuring that there is sufficient financing to support the authorities is the paramount priority.”

She added that a staff-level agreement would follow once the few remaining points were closed. “I can also say that financing assurances, right, what we’re looking for here are a standard feature of all IMF programs,” she said.

“Aside from support provided by the IMF, Pakistan’s, EFF supported program receives financing from other multilateral institutions, including the World Bank, the ADB, and the AIIB and bilateral partners, notably China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE,” Kozack added.

So, we do need to ensure that we have those financing assurances in place in order for us to be able to take the next step with Pakistan.

She also mentioned that Pakistan’s economy faces “multiple challenges including from slowing growth, high inflation and large financing needs”. And of course, this is all coming on the back of devastating floods.

Kozack, also acknowledged that Pakistani authorities “are committed to implementing the necessary reforms” and that “they’ve started to implement decisive actions to stabilise the economy and restore confidence”.

Fuel subsidy
Earlier this week, the government shared its strategy for the recently-announced fuel relief programme, which is to be implemented in three
phases and will “provide a relief of up to Rs50 per litre to the poor”.






The scheme’s announcement had come days after the government increased the prices of all petroleum products — except the insignificant light diesel oil — by up to Rs13 per litre for the next fortnight.

In a report that detailed the pricing strategy behind the Prime Minister’s Petroleum Relief Programme, the government said it has developed a two-tier pricing programme that would provide relief to two-wheelers (motorcycles), three-wheelers (rickshaws) and small vehicles by dividing the consumers into the categories of “poor” and “rich”.

The programme aims to target roughly 20 million motorcycles and rickshaws (with a capping of 21 litres of fuel) & 1.36m small vehicles (with a capping of 30 litres of fuel) currently active across Pakistan, the report stated.

Using differential pricing wherein the base price of fuel is assumed to be Rs300 per litre, the “poor” will be provided relief of up to Rs50 by charging the “rich” an additional Rs102 per litre.

The resulting assumed prices would be Rs250 for the “poor” and Rs352 for the “rich”.

The report further said that the programme will use two models for its implementation — an e-discount through OTP and a “fuel card”.

The implementation will be done in three phases with the first being an increment in the base fuel price (Rs300) of Rs75 — setting the new price without relief at Rs375 — and the collection of money in an escrow account.

In the second phase, the government will “use two different registration mechanisms to enrol the beneficiaries”.

One mechanism would involve data being uploaded by the Vehicle Registration Authority to the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) while the other would have the consumer register their vehicle via SMS.

In the final phase, the discount will be dispersed to the beneficiary after they have registered on the relevant registration portal and a transaction has been processed at the fuel station.

The Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division) will supervise the roles and responsibilities of various actors involved in the plan — including Nadra, the Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority, oil marketing companies and the National Bank of Pakistan.
 

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