New Delhi, Jan 26 (IANS) Pakistan’s energy crisis is not the result of a lack of plans, but of persistent disregard for implementation, coordination and market-based principles, a new report has said.
The report in Business Recorder says that Pakistan’s circular debt in the energy sector continues to swell and policy fragmentation deepens institutional paralysis.
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Businessmen Panel (BMP) has slammed the government’s handling of the sector.
It warned that “repeated policy blunders and delayed structural reforms are pushing the economy towards prolonged instability”.
Circular debt, which has crossed alarming levels, is the clearest indicator of governance failure in the energy sector.
Years of politically motivated tariff controls, inefficient power procurement, overestimation of demand and unchecked capacity payments have created a vicious cycle in which liabilities are simply rolled over instead of resolved, said former FPCCI President and Chairman of the Businessmen Panel, Mian Anjum Nisar.
According to him, “interest payments to state-owned entities may temporarily ease balance sheets, but they do nothing to prevent the debt from resurfacing”.
The report further stated that power, petroleum, water resources and finance continue to operate in silos.
This lack of coordination has resulted in contradictory decisions that inflate costs, distort supply chains and weaken investor confidence, Nisar was quoted as saying.
Energy prices in Pakistan are now significantly higher than those in competing regional economies, eroding the competitiveness of local industry and exports.
Moreover, manufacturers are facing unpredictable tariffs, frequent fuel price adjustments and unreliable supply, forcing many to reduce operations or shut down entirely.
This trend is accelerating deindustrialisation and unemployment at a time when the country can least afford it.
Pakistan already suffers from excessive committee culture, where reports are produced but accountability remains absent. Without clear targets, timelines and consequences for failure, he added, structural changes will remain cosmetic, Nisar lamented.
—IANS
na/
