Islamabad June 6 2023: Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal has said in a press conference that it has been decided in the meeting of the National Economic Council that all commercial areas will be closed at eight o’clock in the night.
Ahsan Iqbal said that in most of the developed countries, including America and Europe, the commercial areas are closed from six to eight in the night. No one lives an irresponsible lifestyle like us, in which commercial centers are kept open until one or two in the night. Burn the exchange in the form of light bulbs. We will follow this to save valuable exchange.
Ahsan Iqbal said that green energy will be promoted. These measures can save up to one billion dollars annually.
“Pakistan’s energy production consists of oil, natural gas and coal. However, insufficient investment in exploration and development activities has made the country heavily reliant on imports as nearly 40% of its total primary energy supply is imported,” according to the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Programme (Carec).
The move comes as Pakistan struggles to quell default fears in domestic and international markets, with a USD 1.1 billion IMF bailout tranche stuck due to differences over the ninth programme review, which should have been completed in November.
Pakistan’s total liquid foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 9.5 billion out of which USD 4.1 billion with the central bank – as of late last month.
The government has tried to stabilise the economy by containing imports and decades-high inflation. A fast depreciating currency has made imports more expensive while consumer prices saw a 29.6 percent year-on-year rise in the first eleven months of the current fiscal year.
