CPEC projects to produce 12000 MW energy: PM’s aide

Islamabad: Work on energy production projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was initiated over the years to produce about 12,000 Megawatts (MW) energy, an aide of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.

Coordinator to the Prime Minister on Economy and Energy Bilal Azhar Kayani told a news conference here that CPEC was set to make Pakistan an energy sufficient country.

He recalled that the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz)-led government in 2013-18 led by then PM Nawaz Sharif, pulled the country out of darkness and put it on a fast track for economic development, creating over 6 million job opportunities.

He added that the present PML-N-led government was also carrying on its mission regarding the CPEC. He maintained that due to hectic efforts by the incumbent government during the last 08 months, the micro-economic indicators of the national economy had started improving gradually.

He mentioned that the debt taken during PML-N tenures was spent on the constitution of motorways, CPEC and for maintaining peace and security in the country.

Kayani underlined that that the current account deficit during the last 8 months narrowed by 68 percent as compared to the corresponding period of last year, whereas the trade deficit also reduced significantly.

Besides, he highlighted, the fiscal deficit came down from 3.4 percent to 2.8 percent. “There is a Primary surplus of 0.9 percent of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) this year as compared to a primary deficit of 0.6 percent recorded during last year,” he remarked.

To a question, Kayani informed that the government was re-negotiating with IMF and other multilateral partners besides restoring relations with them and reached close to staff level agreement.

He elaborated that the incumbent government was taking all necessary measures for the 9th Review to pull Pakistan out of the current economic crisis, adding that the technical level agreement with the IMF had been reached and the Staff Level Agreement had been held up because of a lack of assured financing of US $ 3 billion.

He said that to bridge the external financing gap, China rolled over of US $2 billion safe deposit and another friendly country will soon also provide US $1 billion.

Kayani said that despite of all the financial constraints, the government was determined to protect underprivileged segments of society and enhance the allocation for Benazir Income Support Program (BISP).