ISLAMABAD – Finance Minister Senator Muhammad Aurangzeb outlined key focus areas for the energy sector, emphasizing significant reforms and investments aimed at enhancing efficiency and sustainability during his budget speech.
Aurangzeb highlighted the following priorities:
Reduce Transmission and Distribution Losses: Measures will be implemented to minimize energy losses during transmission and distribution, improving overall efficiency.
Privatization of 9 DISCOs: Nine Distribution Companies (DISCOs) are set to be privatized, a move aimed at increasing competitiveness and reducing operational inefficiencies.
Reduce Theft: Stronger regulations and enforcement mechanisms will be introduced to curb energy theft, ensuring that resources are used effectively and revenues are protected.
Promote Solar, Energy, and Wind: The government will promote renewable energy sources, including solar and wind power, to diversify the energy mix and enhance sustainability.
The federal budget has allocated Rs253 billion to the energy sector to support these initiatives, reflecting the government’s commitment to addressing energy challenges and fostering a more robust and resilient energy infrastructure.
The Pakistani government is currently in talks with the global lender for a loan deal ranging between $6 billion to $8 billion to avert the looming default.
The budget had been formulated while considering the existing challenges being faced by the economy at domestic and international fronts. Hence, mitigating people’s sufferings, transforming the agriculture sector, promoting Information Technology (IT), boosting exports, promoting industrial growth and bolstering businesses, would be the main focus of the document.
Keeping in view the robust growth of revenues during the current fiscal year (2023-24), the government is set the revenue collection target at over Rs.12 trillion for the fiscal year 2024-25.
Pakistan is likely to present the Budget 2024-24 with total outlay of 18 trillion rupees today on June 12.
The PML-N led coalition government unveiled its first budget for fiscal year 2024-25 amid expectations to secure another bailout package from the International Monetary Fund.
