Iran-Pakistan pipeline: ‘Chinese can help finance project’
Govt looking for funds to complete venture: Pakistan Economy Watch.
ISLAMABAD:
Chinese companies should help Pakistan complete the $1.3 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, according Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Saturday.
The government is looking for foreign funds to complete the pipeline project but American opposition is keeping major donors away, said PEW president Dr Murtaza Mughal.
Pakistan should also raise part of the finances through domestic funding for which banks can make a consortium, he suggested.
Americans continue to stick to their stance despite a severe crisis in the country which shows that they are not concerned about our economy but their own geopolitical interests, added Mughal.
He said that US is ignoring the fact that gas contributes around 53 per cent in the country’s energy mix.
Mughal said that fuel shortages have forced the government to ration supplies, resort to gas outages in summer for the first-time and face protests.
The pipeline, which will provide 21.5 million cubic metres of gas per day to Pakistan, has already been delayed by a decade and further delay can prove suicidal for a country that faces a shortfall of around 2.22 billion cubic feet a day, he warned.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 28th, 2011.
Chinese companies should help Pakistan complete the $1.3 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project, according Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Saturday.
The government is looking for foreign funds to complete the pipeline project but American opposition is keeping major donors away, said PEW president Dr Murtaza Mughal.
Pakistan should also raise part of the finances through domestic funding for which banks can make a consortium, he suggested.
Americans continue to stick to their stance despite a severe crisis in the country which shows that they are not concerned about our economy but their own geopolitical interests, added Mughal.
He said that US is ignoring the fact that gas contributes around 53 per cent in the country’s energy mix.
Mughal said that fuel shortages have forced the government to ration supplies, resort to gas outages in summer for the first-time and face protests.
The pipeline, which will provide 21.5 million cubic metres of gas per day to Pakistan, has already been delayed by a decade and further delay can prove suicidal for a country that faces a shortfall of around 2.22 billion cubic feet a day, he warned.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 28th, 2011.