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By APD Writer Muhammad Sohail
ISLAMABAD, June 22 (APD) — Pakistan and France have signed a 100 million euros credit facility agreement for the sustainable energy sector reform program in Pakistan, an official statement said on Thursday.
According to the details, Pakistan’s Secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD) Tariq Mahmood Pasha, French Charg‚ d'Affaires Ren‚ Consolo and Country Director of the French Agency for Development (AFD) Jacky Amprou signed the agreement on Wednesday.
Earlier, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) also approved 300 million US dollars in co-financing for the same program so the total loan amount would come at around $410 million, which will be utilized for energy sector reform program to overcome losses of cash bleeding energy sector.
Pakistan’s Federal Finance Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, on the occasion, underscored the importance of reforms in the energy sector which will directly impact the overall economic growth of Pakistan.
“I appreciate the AFD's continuous support for development projects in Pakistan, including in the energy sector. With signing of the agreement, economic cooperation between Pakistan and France would be further strengthened,” said the minister.
The main objective of the program is to revamp the energy sector to make it more affordable, reliable and sustainable, supporting the country's economic growth, and alleviating the energy crisis through expeditious implementation of the National Power Policy of Pakistan.
This reform program will help in improving the financial viability of the power sector by better managing tariff and subsidies, improving sector performance and opening up the market to private participation, said the statement.
The program will also facilitate in improving the transparency as well as accountability of power sector institutions.
Since the inauguration of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his historical visit to Pakistan in April 2015, a number of powerful foreign investors have been rushing to Pakistan to seek benefits from the investment opportunities created by the China-backed 46 billion US dollars project covering the fields of infrastrucre, energy, industrial zones and Gwadar port.
According to the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) of Pakistan, the country’s average demand is over 22,000MW in summer season with a shortfall of 6,000MW. Out of the total investment of 46 billion U.S. dollars from China under the CPEC, 34 billion U.S. dollars have been allocated for Pakistan’s energy sector only.
A number of power projects are under construction or being planned to start in different areas of the country by Chinese companies, which would ease its rising energy demand in future. Earlier this month, Chinese companies completed a coal-fire power projects of 1320 megawatt in Pakistan’s Punjab province in a record time, six month earlier than the schedule, and earned a lot of praise from all over Pakistan.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
