C o m m u N I C At I o N m I N I S t r y A S k e d t o C l e A r r S 8 . 7 B o w e d t o d I S C o S

tH E Power Division has asked the Ministry of Communication to release remaining liabilities of power distribution companies (discos) amounting to Rs 8 7 billion

This would enable discos to recover their bills from customers deposited in the General Post Offices (GPOs) from July 2022

In an Office Memorandum dated 14th February 2023, the power division has asked the Secretary Ministry of

Federation tells SC

Communication and Director General (DG), Pakistan Post to clear liabilities of discos pending from July 2022

As per details, the GPOs had received the electricity bills from the power consumers and withheld the collected amount instead of paying to the discos

These funds would not only help the power sector to meet its financial obligations, and payments to the generators but also help to avoid unscheduled loadshedding in the coming summer said the power division’s memorandum

The memorandum further exclaimed that urgent action is highly de-

Imran lacks locus standi to challenge NAB law amends

ISLAMABAD

The federation’s lawyer on Tuesday submitted before the Supreme Court of Pakistan that Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Imran Khan has no locus standi to file petition against the amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, and comprising Justice Ijazul Ahsan and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah on Tuesday heard the petition filed by former prime minister Imran Khan against the amendments to the NAB Ordinance, 1999

The Attorney General for Pakistan informed that on Monday, he issued a clarification on Chief Justice remarks appeared on social media, adding that the social media misreported his statement Justice Bandial appreciating the gesture said; “Yes we read it in the newspapers About the case the federation s counsel

Makhdoom Ali Khan adopted the stance that on July 28, 22 some of the PTI MNAs filed a writ petition before the Islamabad High Court (IHC) wherein they challenged the non-acceptance of their resignations, and told the Court that ex-Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri had validly accepted the resignation

The IHC, however, dismissed their petition on 6-9-2022

On the other hand when the NA Speaker (Raja Pervaiz Ashraf) accepted their resignations they approached Lahore High Court (LHC) on 8th February, 2023 and took completely different view They asked the LHC to restrain the Election Commission of Pakistan from denotifying them

He informed that on 11-04-22 when no-confidence vote succeeded against Imran Khan at that time amendments in the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 were pending before the Standing Committee of the Parliament

After the no-trust vote though the PTI MNAs chose to resign but none of its Senators tendered resignation adding none of the MPAs resigned from the provincial assemblies It shows the mala fide of the petitioner, adding there is inconsistency in their legal battle sirable”

According to the document, GPOs of the Communication Ministry have to clear liabilities of four discos and KElectric

Out of total Rs 8 7 billion with GPOs include Rs 2 4 billion amount of Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), Rs 8 billion of Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO), Rs 750 million of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), Rs 783 million of Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) and Rs 3 9 billion amount of K-Electric

It is pertinent to mention that Fi- nance Division in a letter from September last year, carrying subject “Release of Retained Electricity Bills of discos Collected by the GPOs” had allowed Pakistan Post Office Department (PPOD) to draw released Rs 20 billion from State Bank of Pakistan through letter of credit arrangement to clear the outstanding liabilities of discos including K-Electric

The PPOD has so far cleared the liabilities of over Rs 17 billion owed to the other discos However an amount of Rs 750 million of LESCO is still pending with the PPOD which the power division has asked to release on urgent basis

Fitch downgrades Pakistan’s issuer default rating to CCC-

The international ratings agency Fitch has downgraded Pakistan’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency

Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to ‘CCC-‘, from ‘CCC+’

An Issuer Default Rating (IDR) is an assessment of an issuer ’s relative vulnerability to default on financial obligations, and is intended to be comparable across industry groups and countries Issuers often carry both long-term and short-term IDRs

In this particular case, Pakistan’s likelihood to default on its longterm foreign currency obligations, has been deemed more plausible than before Ratings don’t typically change the chances of default Rather they are forward-looking opinions on the relative ability of an entity or obligation to meet financial commitments

The ratings agency has not given an outlook like usual Typically, Fitch gives an outlook of the entities that it rates be it “stable” or “positive” or “negative” However, the agency clarified in its statement that below the CCC+ rating, the agency does not give outlooks

According to Fitch, the key drivers in the fall of Pakistan’s rating were a number of factors that can be linked to the current financial crisis The agency states that even while assuming a successful conclusion to the 9th review of the IMF program, the country s forex outlook is bound to worsen, considering the coming elections and subsequent policy instability Under such circumstances, either default or a restructuring of debts is highly likely It is important to note, that if the staff level agreement is not reached on the IMF program, the current position of Fitch would be considered an overstatement, about the country s ability to fulfil its obligations

The ratings agency also points towards Pakistan s falling CAD figures that have been

Coffee trumps economic crisis as tim Hortons opens in Pakistan

pr ofIt R e u t e R S maintained due to the restrictions The agency fears that the figures are bound to rise once the economy opens up under the strict IMF conditions As per Fitch, “(Pakistan’s) External public-debt maturities in the remainder of the fiscal year ending June 2023 (FY23) amount to over $7 billion and will remain high in FY24 Under these circumstances, the country’s already under pressure reserves are very likely to crumble without external aid

It is important to note that CCC- is one of the most dangerous categories for a sovereign entity Typically countries don t see the light of the R’D or the D category but entities that do, do so after they have entered bankruptcy filings

Pakistanis are queuing for hours to grab coffee and pastries from Canadian chain Tim Hortons, which opened its first outlet in the South Asian country this week just as its economic crisis took a turn for the worse In less than a month, Pakistan’s currency has lost more than a quarter of its value against the U S dollar, and fuel prices have risen by almost a fifth as the government implemented fiscal measures that are prerequisite to unlocking funds from an International Monetary Fund bailout Inflation in January spiked to 27% year-on-year the highest in more than a decade, and the government only has enough foreign reserves to pay for just over three weeks of imports All that hasn’t stopped scores of Pakistanis from thronging to the cafe since it opened on Saturday at an upmarket Lahore shopping mall Tim Hortons is owned by Restaurant Brands International Inc (RBI) (QSR TO) a Toronto-based company that also owns other fast food brands including Burger King and Popeyes “Higher prices don’t really matter for the class of people coming here Ahmad Javed, a medical student who used to go to Tim Hortons while he was living in Canada, told Reuters as he queued up “Rich people in Pakistan are getting richer, the poor are becoming poorer while the middle class is struggling According to its online menu, a small brewed coffee costs 350 rupees ($1 30), while a large flavoured coffee is twice as much By comparison the average government-mandated minimum wage is 25,000 rupees ($94) a month

With a population of more than 230 million and a $350-billion economy, Pakistan remains a growth market for fast-food companies McDonald’s (MCD N), Retail Food Group (RFG AX)-owned Gloria Jean’s Coffee and Yum Brands Inc (YUM N)-owned Pizza Hut are among the international brands with outlets in Pakistan

Tim Hortons is set to open another two outlets in Lahore RBI said in a statement Pakistani firm Blue Foods operates the franchise Both companies declined to give any details about the outlet’s sales in the opening week For students such as Pareeshay Khan, the brand’s social media traction trumps the cost of the coffee I m here to taste the coffee that’s the top social media trend I don’t know about the price, nor do I care ”