Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan committed to complete reforms agreed in IMF plan n Inaugurates ‘School on Wheels’ project in Islamabad n Directs minimum loadshedding in upcoming summer.

ISLAMABAD    -    The Asian Development Bank Tuesday expressed its readi­ness to continue working close­ly with Pakistan in addressing its economic challenges. 

The commitment was ex­pressed by a delegation of Ex­ecutive Directors of the Asian Development Bank of China, Japan and South Korea, which called on Prime Minister Mu­hammad Shehbaz Sharif. The delegation expressed satisfac­tion over government's efforts in addressing big challenge of devastation caused by the re­cent floods.

Speaking on the occasion, the prime minister expressed grat­itude for ADB's longstanding association with Pakistan and for being a reliable partner in the socioeconomic develop­ment of Pakistan. He lauded ADB's generous support to Pa­kistan during 2022 floods.

The prime minister appreci­ated ADB's financing across key economic sectors of Pakistan, particularly transport, energy, cli­mate change and social sector. He expressed the hope that ADB would continue its strong part­nership with Pakistan in ad­dressing the country’s mac­roeconomic challenges. PM Shehbaz Sharif apprised the del­egation of the 9th review under the IMF program and said it is progressing well with staff lev­el agreement expected in the next few days. The prime minis­ter underlined that Pakistan was committed to complete the re­forms agreed in the programme.

‘LOADSHEDDING IN SUMMER’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if Tuesday directed the au­thorities concerned to ensure completion of all projects of power sector and solarization in the country within the stip­ulated time. He was chairing a high-level a meeting in Islam­abad to review progress on power sector projects and mea­sures to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity to consum­ers in summer. 

The prime minister direct­ed that there should be no load-shedding during Sehr and Iftar in Ramazan and minimum load-shedding should be done in the upcoming summer. He also directed to accelerate the process of solarizing the gov­ernment buildings. 

Expressing dismay over the delay in laying of Thar-Matiari 500KV transmission line, the prime minister ordered depart­mental action against those re­sponsible for negligence. He said the National Transmission and Dispatch Board should be re-constituted. Shehbaz Shar­if said energy conservation pol­icy be promoted through a me­dia campaign and by including it in the curriculum of schools and colleges. He directed all the provinces to ensure strict im­plementation of energy saving measures. 

‘SCHOOL ON WHEELS’

Prime Minister Shehbaz Shar­if on Tuesday terming children the ‘future builders of the na­tion’ said the government would provide maximum educational facilities to them.

Addressing the launch of mo­bile schools under the project ‘School on wheels’, he said the step would increase the literacy rate in the country, particularly in the rural areas.

In the first phase, the mobile schools consisting of eight bus­es will provide primary-level education to the children of Is­lamabad and adjoining areas.

The buses have been equipped with computers, desks, white­boards, and LCDs, to create an effective teaching and learning environment.

Shehbaz Sharif said the gov­ernment would increase the number of buses and expand the project to the rest of the country and Azad Kashmir.

He expressed satisfaction that the project would main­stream the children in rural ar­eas who faced the unavailability of modern educational facili­ties. Also, he said, the mobile li­brary would promote a reading culture among the children. He said education was a vital fac­tor to make a society developed and cultured.

The prime minister on the occasion interacted with the schoolchildren and encouraged them to take interest in learn­ing. Earlier, the prime minis­ter launched the countrywide Spring plantation campaign by planting a sapling. He urged civ­il society and the general public to participate in the plantation drive to save future genera­tions. He pointed out that cit­ies were transforming into concrete jungles and the dete­riorating environment needed urgent rectification through the plantation of trees.

Meanwhile, Minister for Pow­er Engr Khuram Dastgir has said that International Mone­tary Fund (IMF) main concern pertains to the circular debt management during the next fiscal year and is seeking guar­antees in this regard.

In the negotiations with IMF, the main concern of the fund is pertaining to circular debt, not for the ongoing but for the up­coming fiscal year, Khurram Dastgir said while responding to a query on the status of Paki­stan and IMF talks.

While addressing a press con­ference, the minister further said that IMF wants guarantee regarding the government cir­cular debt management plan for the next fiscal year.

However, the minister reit­erated that there will be no in­crease in the base power tariff.

The minister also announced that Shanghai Thar Coal Pow­er Project under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has started generating 1320 mega­watt electricity using local coal.

The PDM government, under the leadership of Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif, made hectic efforts to produce electricity us­ing local fuel and succeeded to add 1980 Megawatts electrici­ty from Thar Coal in the system during the past 10 months.

Similarly, another project of ThalNova Thar Coal Pow­er with the generation capacity of 330MW which was delayed for several years, particular­ly from 2018 to 2022, had also been synchronized during mid February. He said that, with the new addition, the total electric­ity generation from Thar coal has reached to 2640 Megawatt, which will not only minimise load-shedding, but also help in reducing the power tariff in the country. Khurram Dastgir said Thar coal have 175 tons of coal reserves which is sufficient to generate 100,000 megawatts of electricity. So far only 2640 MW is being generated from Thar coal, but it is good that all the doubts regarding Thar coal have been removed. It has established across the world that Thar coal can be used for power generation.

Another project of Bolan-Gwa­dar Transmission Line, for the import of additional 100MW electricity from Iran, has also been completed, and will be in­augurated soon by Prime Minis­ter Muhammad Shehbaz Shar­if. By mid March, this line will formally start operations and will transmit additional 100MW electricity from Iran to Gwadar, Khurram said.

He said the government has launched a project of generat­ing 6000 Megawatt electricity through solar energy, and in the first phase, request for propos­al for establishing a 600 mega­watts project in Muzaffargarh has also been floated.”We ex­pect that the bidding will be on April 17, which will result the launching of solar project at cheaper rates,” he added.