Business

ISLAMABAD: The Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) has simplified certification regulations for installers of solar and wind projects in the country to facilitate promotion and expansion of renewable energy sources. The board of directors of AEDB has now enacted new Alternative Energy Development Board (Certification) Regulations, 2021, effective from Aug 30, 2021, as part of “Ease of Doing Business” and …

ISLAMABAD: The country’s trade deficit widened by 119.94 per cent in the first two months of this fiscal year (FY22) to $7.491 billion against $3.406bn last year, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported on Friday. The trade deficit is driven largely by an almost double increase in imports compared to exports from the country. Trade gap has been widening …

ISLAMABAD: Owing to serious legal risks, the board of directors of the state-run Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) on Friday rejected Engro Elengy Terminal (EET) upgr­ade to a bigger floating storage and regas­ification unit (FSRU) and instead recalled original unit — Exquisite — back to work. The Exquisite FSRU operated by Excelerate Energy of USA had been on dry docking …

ISLAMABAD: Encouraged by higher electricity consumption by industry and emerging gas shortages, the government is planning to offer a cheaper electricity tariff for domestic and commercial consumers in coming winters to shift space heating to power instead of gas. “Ministry of Energy is moving a proposal for seasonal emerging pricing for domestic & commercial consumers to encourage power consumption during …

KARACHI: Uncertainty continued in exchange rate markets on Thursday where buyers and sellers were found asking each other about the limit of appreciation of the US dollar, which has risen by 10.5 per cent against the rupee in the last four months touching one-year high. Currency dealers, ex­­perts and analysts have many reasons for the steep fall in the local …

KARACHI: Pakistan’s over­all oil sales posted growth of 22 per cent in July-August 2021 to 3.9 million tonnes from 1.97m tonnes during the same period last year. The sales of furnace oil registered the highest in­­crease of 63pc in August to 508,000 tonnes and 59pc in July-August to 878,000 tonnes led by rising prices of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in …

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has allowed buyers to get bank financing for under-construction housing units aiming to bring about growth in the construction and housing sector in line with the government’s policy. “To facilitate buyers of under construction housing units in obtaining housing finance, the central bank has issued guidelines to banks and DFIs that allow them …

ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be increasing mess in liquefied natural gas (LNG) business, Pakistan on Thursday got one-day notice from Engro Elengy Terminal Limited (EETL) to give up its sovereign right to take over its ship and commit full “take or pay” for larger capacity as the government received more expensive bids for five LNG cargos in October and …

ISLAMABAD: Competition Commission of Pakistan’s (CCP) teams on Thursday raided and searched the premises of Millat Tractors Ltd (MTL) in Lahore and Al-Ghazi Tractors Ltd (AGTL) in Karachi on suspicion of collectively making business decisions. The CCP teams confiscated the relevant record, documents, minutes of meetings and computer- stored information including critical data. The two companies account for around 99 …

ISLAMABAD: With Rs9.6 billion extra cost due to shortage of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in July, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) on Wednesday finalised about Rs1.38 per unit increase in electricity rates for ex-Wapda distribution companies (Discos) for a month under the fuel cost adjustment (FCA). At a public hearing presided over by Nepra chairman Tauseef H. Farooqui, …