msafi

@javedhassan @FT Pak today does have a great indigenized source of power generation. Need imported coal power plants to get converted to Thar coal. Moreover, with battery costs dropping and innovation in long hour batteries, we maybe able to reduce load variations from behind the meter solar

The @FT contradicts the overly optimistic picture painted by the government and its stenographs that the growth of solar has obviated the need for LNG: “…Pakistan is in a particularly vulnerable situation. Almost 99 per cent of its LNG imports came from Qatar last year. Its last cargoes from Ras Laffan arrived on the second and third days of the Iran war. Both of the country’s LNG import terminals have reduced their operations to one-sixth of normal levels and will have stopped dispatching gas completely by the end of the month, according to two people familiar with the situation. One of the two terminals, owned by Pakistan GasPort, will run out of LNG to process in the coming days, said its chair and chief executive Iqbal Ahmed. “After that we’ll run dry,” he said. “We do not know when the next cargo will come in.” Before US and Israeli strikes on Iran began, Islamabad was facing an oversupply of LNG and had asked supplier QatarEnergy to redirect 24 cargoes that had been scheduled to arrive in Pakistan this year. It asked Eni of Italy to redirect a further 11 cargoes. State-owned buyer Pakistan LNG asked Eni to send some of those cargoes after the war broke out, according to a person familiar with the matter, but the request was unsuccessful. Eni declined to comment. Pakistan LNG also contacted traders and suppliers in Europe, Oman, the US, Azerbaijan and Africa but all offered prices that were too high for Pakistan to accept, said the person. Pakistan LNG declined to comment. Buying LNG on the spot market is prohibitively expensive for Pakistan. Asian LNG prices on the Platts JKM benchmark have doubled since the war began, to around $23 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). Shipping costs have risen because of higher charter rates and longer journeys to alternative suppliers of LNG…” ~ @humza_jilani giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/ac… World faces gas supply cliff edge as Gulf’s final LNG shipments approach ports

@javedhassan @FT Why on God’s green earth would we ever buy $22/mmbtu gas. LNG power plants are used as peakers with Coal and Nuclear making up the baseload. Pakistan would have load shedding at night and can selectively curtail some domestic gas instead of buying it at nonsensical rates

@hashurtag Are you actually this dumb or just pretending to be? They need to create massive amount of nuisance value to raise the cost of the war for the world economy. Such that there’s faces that much more international pressure before the next time someone tries initiating a war

At some point you just have to pause and question why Iran is punishing the rest of the world for the crimes of U.S. and Israel?

@UmarFKhawaja @vanillasky458 I didn’t, I’m out viewing houses with the family sorry. See the official IMF press release below - this says it very explicitly: imf.org/en/news/articl…

@Safi_gr @vanillasky458 Did you read this?

Patwarkhana insisted that Imran Khan's 10 rupee fuel subsidy completely destroyed the economy, said he deserves to be in jail just for this, called it treason. But are suddenly silent now. Hypocritical, dishonest propagandists without a single principled bone in their body.

@UmarFKhawaja @vanillasky458 dawn.com/news/1691452

@Safi_gr @vanillasky458 This is not what I recall. I do recall IMF seeking IK’s approval before reviving the program.

@UmarFKhawaja @vanillasky458 IMF was not okay with it. He went through with it as a political decision with no thought on economic consequences. IMF explicitly pushed to reverse policy in May 2022 and said it was a clear violation of the program. Removal of this policy was condition for reviving the program

@Safi_gr @vanillasky458 You missed the key point I made: the policy was fully-costed. This means, PTI govt knew how much it would cost and what economic benefits it would produce and the benefits outweighed the costs. This is why the IMF was okay with it.

@UmarFKhawaja @vanillasky458 Not revisionist brother, same way as we should condemn in strongest possible way what Shehbaz is doing today. That was a horrific policy yesterday and is a horrific policy today. We need economic strength otherwise lots of very strong enemies who openly want you to not exist

@Safi_gr @vanillasky458 This is just revisionist interpretation of events. Imran Khan could have done a lot more to tilt the VONC in his favour. He did not. This subsidy did nothing to shore up VONC votes because the subsidy did nothing to affect those votes. This was done to ease productivity.

@UmarFKhawaja @vanillasky458 Then after he got ousted, his ministers kept coming online and teasing caretaker govt if they will drop “petrol bomb” on people; unlike Imran bhai who “cared deeply about the people”. Shehbaz in his incompetence gave in to the political pressure. Both are horrific to the country

@UmarFKhawaja @vanillasky458 No sensing the vote of no-confidence coming up, he cut fuel by 10 Rs, electricity by 5 Rs and froze any price increases at all. That was a political move aimed at I’m focused on living today, whatever happens tomorrow may not be our problem to deal with

@MuzzammilAslam3 Same disastrous policies as those adopted by your incompetent leader in 2022. All politicians are idiots in this country…

But no subsidy on petrol

@aliktareen Terminals and PPP projects are always done on concession based model where at the end of the period, the asset reverts back to the relevant authority. So it’s not an appropriate example. You can propose a longer term duration for the franchise contract

Think of it like building a house on a rented plot. Once the rental period is done, the house is theirs. Do I recommend building a house on a rented plot? No.

@musmanmalik @rogueonomist @motasim Yes Solar customers reduce reliance on the grid, which in turn needs to import less fuel (RLNG, Coal) to provide baseload. This saves foreign exchange. It just made the grid unviable which is why government was fixing the way people get compensated for selling back to the grid

@rogueonomist @motasim So solar producers helped government to spent less foreign reserves?

Ironically, a blessing in disguise. We should get out of the contracts, start producing indigenous gas again, use that and imported coal for baseless, and reduce electricity prices for everyone. Simply put, PK needs on average 3.5 cargos for electricity - which leads to curtailment of around 500 mmcfd (c. 2 cargos) of gas. Domestic gas is much cheaper than imported RLNG Due to RLNG, we could not max out imported coal either -- that remaining 1 cargo can be covered by that. Instead of a shortage, we may actually see local supplies prop up, and electricity prices actually decline due to lower fuel cost (local gas + imported coal)

@FarooqTirmizi @rogueonomist We were shutting wells in local gas fields to make way for imported RLNG (which recent negotiations with Qatar tried to solve). Commercially a great opportunity for Pak - get out of jail free card. Even imported coal plants can subsequently be converted to local coal to save FX

@rogueonomist Yeah, but haven’t we maxed production and been in decline since about 2014? Unless we start fracking (and we’re very water-stressed so that’ll be a limiting factor), increasing domestic gas production sounds like a tough ask.

@KirkLubimov Still doesn’t answer why you pander to Israel come what may? Just general unabated hatred for Muslims and you’d like to see all of them die?

Do people understand what is going on in Canada? > 1 out of 50 will soon be a refugee. The average refugee is on tax support for over 10 years. > 1/3 of Canadians are foreign born. Most of them are not from the Western World. > Canada gives out more than 380,000 PRs every year. > Canada replaces about 1% of its citizens, permanently, with foreigners every year. At minimum. > Liberals passed BillC3 that creates chain citizenship handouts to foreigners with the slightest connection to Canada. No one knows the number amount or liability. > The last and biggest generation of Canadians, who also had kids, is starting their decline. > 88.5% of women in their 20s don't have kids. > 43.2% of women in their 30s don't have kids. > 23.6% of women in their 40s don't have kids. > Canadians are now becoming the minority in many areas in Canada. So the average Canadian will spend their lives being a tax slave paying for their own country to be taken over; paying for infrastructure that they will have no bloodline to use and for foreigners to have kids. A country that was sold out and surrendered because people were too afraid to be called names and have pride. Do people have what it takes to turn this around?

@abhish_31 Another fake account trying to makeup for the beating India got last year. PAF comes to haunt them in their dreams as well 😂😂

@thewirepak I really hope this is not the official stance of the government since he’s just an official mouthpiece. Complete idiotic statement

I stand with KSA, UAE, GCC against Iran and their perverted actions. No way this should be allowed. Iran stabbed brothers which protected its regime. Angry, very angry!

@Barmakf @munavar_ahmed_ It’s an Indian account, he’s right

@munavar_ahmed_ The account is based in Afghanistan

Only an Afghan Pashtun would bomb a mosque, the place of prayer, be proud of it.

@YousufNazar You want to give PPP and Zardari authority to rack up debt at provincial level? Be practical… provinces are already well fed from NFC award. If anything that share needs to be reduced and provinces should be required to collect agriculture taxes that’s in their domain

Indian states are constitutionally allowed to borrow money — but under a structured and conditional framework. The contrast with Pakistan is quite significant. Constitutional Position in India Under Article 293 of the Constitution of India, states have the power to borrow, both: •Within India (domestic borrowing) •From the central government •From market sources (bonds, loans, financial institutions) However, this borrowing is not fully sovereign in the way a national government borrows. Key Constraint: Central Government Consent If a state government has any outstanding loan owed to the central government, it must obtain the consent of the Union government before raising new loans. This creates a hybrid model: •Legal borrowing autonomy •Fiscal oversight by the centre In practice, almost all Indian states operate within borrowing limits negotiated with the federal government and aligned with fiscal responsibility rules. Most Indian states are governed by Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM)-type laws, which: •Cap fiscal deficits (typically around 3% of GSDP) •Limit debt accumulation •Require transparency in borrowing The central government also sets annual borrowing ceilings for states, especially when macroeconomic stability is a concern. Market Borrowing (A Critical Difference from Pakistan) Indian states regularly raise funds through: •State Development Loans (SDLs) issued via the Reserve Bank of India •Domestic bond markets •Multilateral and institutional financing (often with sovereign backing) This means states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka routinely access capital markets for infrastructure financing. External Borrowing Indian states generally cannot independently borrow externally (from foreign governments or international capital markets) without central government involvement. External sovereign borrowing remains a federal prerogative. Contrast with Pakistan Under Pakistan’s constitutional and fiscal structure: •Provinces do not have meaningful autonomous borrowing authority •External borrowing is strictly federal •Even domestic borrowing space is highly constrained and centrally mediated This results in a far more centralized fiscal architecture compared to India’s quasi-federal borrowing model. Structural Implication India’s framework allows subnational governments to: •Finance infrastructure projects directly •Smooth fiscal shocks •Compete in development spending Whereas Pakistan’s provinces remain largely dependent on: •Federal transfers (NFC awards) •Grants and shared revenues In fiscal federalism terms, India operates a “controlled borrowing federalism,” while Pakistan operates a “transfer-dependent federalism.” Therefore, the issue of NFC transfers must be analysed in the broader context. Cut NFC transfers but give more borrowing and taxation responsibility to the provinces while mandating cuts in the federal expenditures and expanding powers of local governments @MiftahIsmail

@MuzzammilAslam3 Imran khan also added cargoes during his term. It is incompetent people like you, who led Imran Khan down

Unimaginable losses. Gas sector losses are due to delayed implementation of price pass through of LNG prices. We sold imported LNG to system on local prices. PTI introduced WACOG which was further delayed after regime change. Now same LNG cargos we had requested to cancel as we don’t have demand at such higher prices. Whoever, conceived the idea of LNG imports I’m sure it was not done with feasibility. Thanks to Mian Saheb & PMLN