ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government will hold natural gas prices steady for the next six months, delivering a reprieve to households and industries battered by soaring energy costs, even as the sector’s circular debt balloons to more than Rs3 trillion.
Energy
Exports sink for fifth straight month, slump over 20 percent in December
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s exports tumbled for a fifth consecutive month in December, plunging more than a fifth from a year earlier and driving the trade deficit wider amid sluggish global demand and soaring domestic costs.
Pakistan discovers oil, gas in northwestern province amid push to cut imports
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan announced the discovery of oil and gas in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a find that could bolster domestic production and help narrow the country’s widening energy shortfall.
Pakistan begins 2026 with cuts to petrol and diesel prices
ISLAMABAD: The government rang in 2026 with fuel price cuts, slashing petrol and diesel rates for the next two weeks in a move that tracks softer global crude and delivers modest relief to consumers and transporters battered by high costs.
Pakistan secures $730 million ADB funding to fix energy grid, loss-making SOEs
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the Asian Development Bank signed agreements on Thursday for $730 million in loans aimed at strengthening the country’s overburdened power transmission network and accelerating reforms in its state-owned enterprises, which have long been plagued by inefficiency and financial losses.
Pakistan approves pilot power auction to foster competition, ends public procurement
ISLAMABAD: The government has greenlighted a pilot auction for 800 megawatts of electricity under a competitive trading model, a move aimed at injecting market forces into the power sector while scrapping future state-led procurement of generation capacity.
Pakistan seeks major loan from ADB to ease power sector debt
Pakistan is seeking fresh financing from the Asian Development Bank to clear out the remaining Rs1.7 trillion in circular debt plaguing its power sector and to refinance Rs1.25 trillion in recent commercial borrowings, aiming to secure longer tenors and cut costs in a bid to ease electricity tariffs and bolster grid reliability.
Pakistan pushes for Russian oil deal to cut import costs, diversify supply
KARACHI: Russia and Pakistan are negotiating a potential agreement in the oil sector that could expand cooperation in exploration, production and refining, as Islamabad pushes to cut import costs and Moscow hunts for new markets amid Western sanctions.
Fuel prices set for potential drop, regulator pushback
KARACHI: The petroleum product prices could fall by as much as Rs12 per liter starting Monday, according to estimates from industry officials, though the oil regulator dismissed such reports as purely speculative and not reflective of any formal process.
Pakistan secures $940 million from ADB, World Bank for SOE reform, climate and water projects
KARACHI: Pakistan received a fresh influx of international financing on Friday as the Asian Development Bank approved $540 million to overhaul its struggling state-owned enterprises and bolster coastal defenses against climate disasters, while the World Bank separately greenlighted $400 million to expand water and sanitation services in the country’s most populous province.