Foreign investments in energy now that circular debt is cleared: Dar

1
120

The clearance of circular debt not only resulted in the addition of 1700MW in the national grid but also allured foreign investors now considering making investments in Pakistan’s energy sector.
Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said this during a meeting with a Malaysian delegation led by Felda Global Centures Holdings Berhad CEO Mohammad Emir Amvani Abdullah.
During the meeting detailed discussions to explore ways to expand trade and economic relations between the two countries took place. “The existing volume of trade between the two countries is not proportionate to the close and brotherly relations existing between the two countries,” Dar said.
Dar assured the Malaysian delegation of all possible means of cooperation and facilitation.
Emir said there were tremendous business opportunities in Pakistan and that Malaysia was willing to make investments in the country which would act as a ‘spring board’ for re-export to Central Asia and Africa.
Dar informed the Malaysian delegation that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would soon display an energy policy which would allow additional power generation at affordable prices. “We plan to double Pakistan’s power generation in the next five years,” he said.
Furthermore, Dar said that the circular debt which had been adversely affecting energy production had virtually been settled. “We have cleared Rs 480 billion to power producing entities and the balance of Rs 23 billion represents the claims pending settlement,” he added.
Dar also said that the conclusion of an International Monetary Program (IMF) program sent extremely positive signals to the financial world who welcomed the measures taken by Pakistan’s government for stabilizing the economy and for creating an investor-friendly climate.

1 COMMENT

Comments are closed.