Sheikh gives six-point formula to mitigate energy crisis

ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Dr Abdul Hafiz Sheikh here on Monday presented a six-point formula to mitigate the country's energy crisis on short-term basis while advising for adopting a comprehensive medium-term strategy to end power crisis.
 
Delivering a lecture after Inaugurating NUST Business School (NBS), at National University of Science and Technology, Dr. Hafiz Sheikh stressed the need for utilizing the existing energy capacity to generate more power saying that there was need to identify the capacity of generating energy through gas.


He said that there was capacity of generating additional 950 megawatt of electricity through gas, however, adding that the gas sector was also facing similar problems as the power sector.

Hafiz Sheikh said that the IPPs should be paid their dues to encourage them to continue operation for electricity generation, which he said would help mitigate power crisis in the country on short-term basis.

He also underlined the importance of energy conservation and an end to power wastages adding that the performance of electricity distribution companies also needed to be improved to save about 30 per cent electricity wasted due to transmission losses.

He said there was also need for developing a better and predictable load management system to save people from suffering.

He said that on medium-term basis there was need to shift towards alternate power generation by utilizing various resources.

Hafiz Sheikh told journalists that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) may allow Pakistan delay in raising power tariff from next month provided it ensures to get a $900 million loan from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.

He said that a discussion would be held with the IMF to delay the power tariff hike on the basis of the loan to be provided by the ADB and the WB.

Sheikh, who is leaving for Washington on Tuesday, said that the IMF would like Pakistan to raise the power tariff but there are other players like the ADB and the WB who have their role to play.

For the overall economic uplift, Hafiz sheikh stressed the need for human development to take the country forward saying that the countries that took care of people have gone ahead and the others were still lagging behind.
“You cannot have underdeveloped people and a developed country,” he remarked adding that human development and education were imperative to lead towards economic prosperity.

Besides, the advisor added that another factor that helped nations to go ahead was the capability to do business with others adding that countries that have succeeded in exporting their products have gone ahead.

He also highlighted the importance of striking a balance between role of government and private sector initiatives for economic development.

Citing the example of Communism in Russia, he hinted that neither the government nor the private sector could alone succeed to include the country into the list of developed nations.

To a question about Value Added Tax (VAT), Dr. Sheikh said that inability tomobilize the country's own resources was one of the historic failures. He said that the country's tax to GDP ratio was still in one digit which needed to be improved.

He said that VAT is being depicted as some dangerous object, and that there was need to communicate, talk and discuss this mode of taxation for better results.

He said that VAT would benefit the people who are already paying taxes and that it would ease the burden of those paying tax and bring into tax net those who do not pay taxes. – APP.

Source Dawn News