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Islamabad [Pakistan], Aug. 15 (ANI): Even after a clear order by Pakistani Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif, the country’s government has been unable to address key issues facing China’s imported coal-fired power companies as overdue bills for these plants exceed Rs 35,000 crore . Barriers to coal procurement in Islamabad.
This happened at a time when coal prices had multiplied. Business Recorder cited sources as saying that the overdue bill has hampered Pakistan’s ability to buy coal as the country suffers from a shortage of dollars.
One of the power projects, the Pakistan Port Qasim Power Project (PQEPC) in Sindh province, is able to use the Chinese yuan (RMB), the official currency of the People’s Republic of China, to buy coal to ease the pressure on Pakistan’s lack of dollars.
Prime Minister Sharif was informed that, given the specific circumstances, the State Bank of Pakistan supports the exchange of RMB in Port Qasim.
On July 28, representatives of Chinese enterprises held detailed talks with Pakistani Finance Minister Mifta Ismail. Several issues were highlighted during the meeting, including tariff adjustments, liquidity damage, opening of revolving accounts, provision of foreign exchange and payments.
The meeting was attended by Minister of Electricity, Minister of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister of Finance Ahsan Iqbal, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, Tariq Fatimi, SAPM, Zafar uddin Mahmood, Special Secretary for Finance, Awais Manzur, Chairman of the National Electricity Regulatory Authority (NEPRA), Tauseef. H. Farooqi.
In addition, Rehan Akhtar, CEO/CFO, Central Power Procurement Agency-Guarantee (CPPA-G), CEO of China Power Hub Power Generation Corporation, Ren Lihui, Executive Assistant to CEO of China Hub, Li Hualin, CEO of PQEPC, Guo Guanglin , CEO, China High Speed ​​Rail (HSR) Li Xin, HSR Vice President Fan Jinde, PQEPC Secretary Rong Hongcheng and HSR Vice President Li Hu.
The media quoted sources as saying that Pakistan’s finance minister has instructed that Chinese independent power producers (IPPs) may be offered monthly payments to cover their operating costs and foreign exchange insurance may be offered to Chinese companies.
Chinese companies are assured that the revolving account issue that has been pending for years will be resolved soon. The meeting decided that the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Electricity would hold talks with the Prime Minister on the issue of liquidity damage.
In addition, Chinese companies have complained that they have not received a positive response from NEPRA on tariff adjustments due to the multiplied costs, the sources said.
Chinese companies have written several letters to electricity regulators about this, which, according to them, have been left unattended. The letters were also shared with the Chinese embassy. The meeting decided that Chinese companies will contact NEPRA to discuss tariff adjustments separately.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong wrote in a tweet, “Had a good discussion and in-depth exchange with the chairman of NEPRA. Committed to further tapping the cooperation potential in the power field and promoting the high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.”
However, official documents provided by the Business Recorder show that the issues discussed in the meeting with the prime minister have not yet been resolved.
China Huaneng, the Sahiwal coal power plant, said in an Aug. 7 letter that more than 500,000 tonnes of South African coal was being stored at the port, awaiting customs clearance because no money was paid to coal suppliers.
Guo Guangling, CEO of Port Qasim Electric Power Company (PQEPC), said in a letter to the Minister of Finance that the company, as an imported coal project, had to postpone the negotiations with coal contractors due to the restriction of the use of foreign exchange by the national oil company in the foreign exchange reserves of US dollars. The settlement process has a negative impact on ensuring continuous coal supply. (ANI)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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