Power projects: Donors reluctant to release pledged funds
Not a single penny from the pledged Rs13.3 billion released.
ISLAMABAD:
At a time when the country is facing severe energy shortage, multilateral and bilateral donors are reluctant to release pledged funds owing to the suspended International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.
Pakistan has not received a single penny from donors to finance 35 power sector projects during the first quarter of financial year 2012, document available with The Express Tribune reveal.
Majority of the projects are being financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB). Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi Fund have also pledged funds for some of the projects.
Multilateral donors have vowed to disburse Rs13.3 billion for the power sector projects during the ongoing financial year.
The IMF has criticised the government for its patchy implementation of fiscal reforms and has held back the sixth tranche of an $11 billion loan since August last year. Pakistan is due to start repaying the loan and its interest from early next year.
Sources told The Express Tribune that Pakistan is mulling over ending the remaining IMF programme, a move that may deter the bilateral donors even further.
For hydropower related projects, Pakistan has received a nominal sum of Rs250 million so far from the total pledged amount of Rs86.3 billion for the ongoing financial year. China stands as the major financer for water-related projects.
The amount was released for the Gomal Zam dam being built on the Gomal river in South Waziristan at a cost of Rs10.4 billion. The dam will generate 17.4MW electricity and irrigate 163,000 acres of land.
The major ongoing project in the power sector is Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) which is being financed by Saudi Arabia.
The holdup in funding for the Rs84.5 billion project may create major problems for Pakistan as any delay in completion will deprive Pakistan of water rights over Neelum-Jhelum River.
The government did not handle the case properly in International Court against India’s construction of Kishenganga dam, Former Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah told The Express Tribune. He said that authorities should have obtained a stay order in the first hearing in The Hague on February 14, 2011. Pakistani authorities stating that no stay order was required got the case moving in the wrong direction, he added.
Other projects in the power sector relate to power distribution, transmission enhancement, rural electrification and upgradation projects.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2011.
At a time when the country is facing severe energy shortage, multilateral and bilateral donors are reluctant to release pledged funds owing to the suspended International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan.
Pakistan has not received a single penny from donors to finance 35 power sector projects during the first quarter of financial year 2012, document available with The Express Tribune reveal.
Majority of the projects are being financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB). Germany, France, Japan, Korea, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi Fund have also pledged funds for some of the projects.
Multilateral donors have vowed to disburse Rs13.3 billion for the power sector projects during the ongoing financial year.
The IMF has criticised the government for its patchy implementation of fiscal reforms and has held back the sixth tranche of an $11 billion loan since August last year. Pakistan is due to start repaying the loan and its interest from early next year.
Sources told The Express Tribune that Pakistan is mulling over ending the remaining IMF programme, a move that may deter the bilateral donors even further.
For hydropower related projects, Pakistan has received a nominal sum of Rs250 million so far from the total pledged amount of Rs86.3 billion for the ongoing financial year. China stands as the major financer for water-related projects.
The amount was released for the Gomal Zam dam being built on the Gomal river in South Waziristan at a cost of Rs10.4 billion. The dam will generate 17.4MW electricity and irrigate 163,000 acres of land.
The major ongoing project in the power sector is Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) which is being financed by Saudi Arabia.
The holdup in funding for the Rs84.5 billion project may create major problems for Pakistan as any delay in completion will deprive Pakistan of water rights over Neelum-Jhelum River.
The government did not handle the case properly in International Court against India’s construction of Kishenganga dam, Former Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah told The Express Tribune. He said that authorities should have obtained a stay order in the first hearing in The Hague on February 14, 2011. Pakistani authorities stating that no stay order was required got the case moving in the wrong direction, he added.
Other projects in the power sector relate to power distribution, transmission enhancement, rural electrification and upgradation projects.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 23rd, 2011.