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☆ Pakistan Suicide Bombing Death Toll Rises to at Least 100
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Saeed Shah | Waqar Gillani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The death toll in a suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan climbed to at least 100 on Tuesday as rescuers pulled bodies out of the rubble of a mosque hit by one of the country’s deadliest terrorist attacks. Emergency crews worked through the night to pull the dead and injured from the debris of the mosque in a large police compound in the city of Peshawar. The compound included police offices and housing.

"I can't imagine Pakistan not going on a back-to-back IMF programme." Pakistan's debt problemsPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s main election challenger is former cricket star Imran Khan, who was removed from the job last April but retains popularity. "There is just a long-term indebtedness problem," said Jeff Grills, the head of emerging markets debt at Aegon Asset Management, who held Pakistan bonds until the floods hit. Most of Pakistan's bonds are still trading at less than half their face value. Reuters GraphicsDIFFICULT TIMESSuch a restructuring of Pakistan's bonds would represent its first international default since 1999, according to the Bank of Canada-Bank of England Sovereign Default Database.

☆ Pakistan Suicide Bombing Death Toll Rises to At Least 95
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Saeed Shah | Waqar Gillani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—The death toll in a suicide bombing in northwestern Pakistan climbed to at least 95 on Tuesday as rescuers pulled bodies out of the rubble of a mosque hit by one of the country’s deadliest terrorist attacks. Emergency crews worked through the night to pull the dead and injured from the debris of the mosque in a large police compound in the city of Peshawar. The compound included police offices and housing, and many of those killed were police. More than 220 people were injured, officials said Tuesday.

☆ Pakistan, IMF open talks to unlock crucial funding - ministry
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Cash-strapped Pakistan on Tuesday began the much-waited talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to unlock stalled funding, the country's finance ministry said. Pakistan secured a $6 billion IMF bailout in 2019, which was topped up with another $1 billion last year. Unlocking the funding is crucial for the South Asian economy as its foreign exchange reserves have dropped to cover just three weeks of imports. The IMF delegation is led by mission chief Nathan Porte, while Pakistan's Finance Minister Ishaq Dar led his team. It said the teams discussed and reviewed the economic and fiscal policies and reforms agenda to accomplish the ninth review.

☆ Pakistan Bombing at Mosque Kills at Least 59
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Saeed Shah | Waqar Gillani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—At least 59 people were killed by a suspected suicide bombing at a mosque within a police compound in northwestern Pakistan, authorities said. The blast took place at a mosque located in a high security zone in the city of Peshawar on Monday, in a crowd of worshippers gathered for lunchtime prayers, causing part of the structure to collapse. Authorities said most of those killed were police and estimated that more than 160 people were injured.

☆ Pakistan Bombing at Mosque Kills at Least 44
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Saeed Shah | Waqar Gillani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—At least 44 people were killed by a suspected suicide bombing at a mosque within a police compound in northwestern Pakistan, authorities said. The blast took place at a mosque located at the compound in the city of Peshawar on Monday, causing part of the structure to collapse. Authorities said most of those killed were police and estimated that more than 160 people were injured.

☆ Pakistan Bombing at Police Compound Kills at Least 28
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Saeed Shah | Waqar Gillani | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—At least 28 people were killed by a blast at a police compound in northwestern Pakistan that authorities said they suspected was a suicide bombing. The blast took place at a mosque located at the compound in the city of Peshawar on Monday, causing part of the structure to collapse. Authorities said most of those killed were police and estimated that about 150 people were injured.

The currency's official value closed at 255.4 rupees against the dollar versus 230.9 on Wednesday, the central bank said. Facing an increasingly acute balance of payments crisis, Pakistan is desperate to secure external financing, with less than three weeks worth of import cover in its foreign exchange reserves. Aside from wanting the government to reduce its budget deficit, the IMF is pushing for it to move to a market-determined exchange rate regime. The foreign exchange companies said on Wednesday that they had removed the cap for the sake of the country, because it was causing "artificial" distortions for the economy. Aside from moving towards a market-determined exchange rate, Islamabad has also announced it will take fiscal measures recommended by the IMF.

[1/3] Vehicle lights cause light streaks on the road along a market, during country-wide power breakdown in Karachi, Pakistan January 23, 2023. But the blackout in Pakistan on Monday was its second near-complete grid failure and the third in south Asia in three months. Grid operators attempt to keep the frequency of the grid stable at 50 hz, with deviations over 0.05 hz typically considered abnormal. "Transmission lines tripped, which resulted in isolation of north and south system," Akthar said in the note. About 11.35 gigawatts (GW) of power plants were in operation across the country when the transmission lines tripped and separated the northern and southern grid, the note read.

The Exchange Companies Association of Pakistan (ECAP) said late on Tuesday it was lifting the cap on the currency in the interest of the country. Before the cap on the rupee was removed, markets eyed three different rates to assess its value -- the state bank's official rate, the one assessed by the foreign exchange companies and the black market rate. He said the removal of the cap would curb the black market. "The black market rate is still sticky in the range of 260-270. The decision of exchange companies has not had any impact as such," said Fahad Rauf, Head of Research at Ismail Iqbal Securities.

☆ Pakistan says power restored after second major breakdown in months
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s energy minister on Tuesday blamed the worst power outage in months on a lack of investment in the network, saying the aid-dependent nation had “learned lessons” from the breakdown that left millions of people without electricity. Like much of the national infrastructure, the power network desperately needs an upgrade, but funding has been patchy as Pakistan lurched from one International Monetary Fund bailout to the next. The outage, which began on Monday morning, was the second major breakdown since October. Pakistan has enough installed power capacity to meet demand, but the sector is so heavily in debt that it cannot afford to invest in infrastructure and power lines. “The government plans to add more power distribution lines within the next 36 months,” he added.

ISLAMABAD, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Pakistan's energy ministry said on Tuesday it had restored its national power grid nearly 24 hours after a breakdown triggered the worst outage in months, highlighting the frailty of the aid-dependant nation's infrastructure. All 1,112 grid stations were back online, a senior government official told Reuters, adding that electricity would be fully restored across the country once power generation units were back up. The outage, which began on Monday morning during the peak winter season, is the second major grid failure to hit the nation of 220 million people since October, though there are partial blackouts almost daily. Residents in major cities said they now had electricity, but some areas of the country were still without power. China has invested in its power sector as part of a $60 billion infrastructure scheme that feeds into Beijing's "Belt and Road" initiative.

In November, the State Bank of Pakistan's Monetary Policy Committee unexpectedly pushed up its key rate by 100 bps, meaning it has now raised it by a total of 725 bps since January 2022. The country - struggling after last year's devastating nationwide floods - posted a 24.5% annual inflation rate in January. Although some moderation was seen in inflation in November and December, it remains high and core inflation has been on a rising trend for the last 10 months, the central bank added. The lack of fresh financial inflows and ongoing debt repayments have led to a steady drawdown in official reserves, the central bank said. "The current account deficit narrowed by around 60 percent to $3.7 billion in H1-FY23," the central bank said.

☆ Tens of millions without power after Pakistan suffers major outage
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Much of Pakistan was left without power for several hours on Monday morning as an energy-saving measure by the government backfired. The outage was reminiscent of a massive blackout in January 2021, attributed at the time to a technical fault in the country’s power generation and distribution system. According to the minister, during winter, electricity usage typically goes down overnight. A Metro station is closed after major power outage in Lahore, Pakistan on Monday. Pakistan is grappling with one of the country’s worst economic crisis in recent years amid dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

☆ Factbox: Why were millions of Pakistanis without electricity?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Sudarshan Varadhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Here's a look at what happened, and the immediate prospects for Pakistan's power grid. PAKISTAN'S POWER GRIDPakistan typically meets more than a third of its annual power demand using imported natural gas, prices for which shot up following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. FREQUENT POWER CUTSPakistan has been facing hours-long power cuts for months, with rural areas facing longer outages than cities. While the duration of power cuts has come down during the winters, many parts still face power cuts to save fuel costs. It is not immediately clear what the exact cause of Pakistan's grid breakdown was, but power grid frequency typically falls when supply falls short of demand.

☆ Pakistan suffers major power outage after grid failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Pakistan suffered country-wide power cuts early on Monday due to a major breakdown in its national grid, the federal energy ministry said. "According to initial information, at about 7:34 AM (local time) today, the National Grid experienced a loss of frequency, that caused a major breakdown. Power was out in all major cities, including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore and Peshawar. This is not a major crisis," Dastagir said. Reporting by Asif Shahazad, writing by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; editing by Sudipto GangulyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Thousands of mobile phone towers go offline in Pakistan after power outage - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Thousands of mobile phone towers have gone offline across Pakistan due to a nationwide power cut on Monday, an industry source told Reuters, raising the spectre of a telecommunications blackout in parts of the country of 220 million people. The disruption has begun hitting the country's approximately 40,000 telecommunication towers. Separately, the country's telecommunication regulator, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), warned of outages. "Due to country wide power outage, users may face service disruptions," PTA said in a statement. A spokesperson for PTA did not respond to a question on how many of Pakistan's telecommunication towers were offline.

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —A nationwide power outage in Pakistan left nearly 220 million people without electricity on Monday, threatening to cause havoc in the South Asian nation already grappling with fuel shortages in the winter months. It is unclear how long the outage will last and efforts are underway to restore power to various parts of the country. The outage comes as the country’s fragile economy continues to struggle with multiple challenges, including a severe energy crisis. The decision to reduce energy usage came as Pakistan announced its foreign exchange reserves had dwindled to alarmingly low levels. Monday’s power outage is Pakistan’s most widespread power shutdown since 2021, when the nation plunged into darkness for hours after a “sudden plunge in the frequency in the power transmission system.”

☆ Pakistan to start importing Russian oil after March
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Pakistan has been battling a balance of payment crisis with foreign exchange reserves falling to $4.6 billion, barely enough to cover three weeks of imports - mostly for oil. It said in October it was considering buying discounted Russian crude, citing neighbouring India which has been purchasing from Moscow. Pakistan officials and Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov, who is in Islamabad for an annual inter-governmental commission on trade and economy, did not specify the size of the planned purchases. Pakistan junior oil minister Musadik Malik told local Geo News TV separately that Islamabad wanted to import 35% of its total crude oil requirement. Shulginov said Russian gas companies might not be in a position at present to extend any supplies to Pakistan.

☆ Pakistan PM Sharif offers talks with arch-rival India
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Asif Shahzad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has offered his Indian counterpart talks over all outstanding issues, including disputed Kashmir, which he believes could be facilitated by the United Arab Emirates (UAE). He can play a very important role to bring the two countries on the talking table," Sharif said. The two arch-rival nuclear powers have fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947. Tensions rose high when India unilaterally revoked the autonomous status of its part of Kashmir later in 2019, which Sharif said resulted in "flagrant" human rights violations. Sharif said the wars between the two countries brought nothing except misery, poverty and unemployment.

☆ India revives network of village guards in Kashmir after militant attack
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Fayaz Bukhari | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SRINAGAR, Jan 12 (Reuters) - India is reviving a network of thousands of village guards in Jammu and Kashmir, including arming some with automatic rifles, after a militant attack in the disputed region killed seven civilians earlier in January, a police official said. The nuclear-armed neighbours claim the Himalayan region - that includes the Muslim majority Kashmir valley and Hindu-dominated Jammu - in full but control only parts of it. Authorities reactivated an almost defunct network of 26,000 Village Defence Guards (VDGs) after militants killed seven residents of a Hindu community in a remote village in Jammu's Rajouri district on Jan. 1. We have also provided automatic rifles to some." Basant Raj Thakur, a VDG from Jammu's Doda area, said that he supported the move to provide automatic weapons, replacing bolt-action rifles that some guards are currently armed with.

"It's not just me and my children, future generations from our community in Jammu and Kashmir will vote for the BJP." A BJP victory in the disputed region could consolidate India's claim over the territory on the global stage. "We have taken a pledge to cross 50-plus seats to form the next government with a thumping majority," the BJP's president for Jammu and Kashmir, Ravinder Raina, told Reuters. Jammu has about 5.3 million inhabitants, 62% of whom are Hindu while Kashmir Valley has 6.7 million, 97% of them Muslim, according to a 2011 census. Previously unreported official records show just over 5.3 million certificates had been issued as of September.

☆ Donors pledge more than $9 billion for Pakistan’s flood recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Officials from some 40 countries as well as private donors and international financial institutions gathered at a meeting in Geneva as Islamabad sought funds to cover around half of a recovery bill amounting to $16.3 billion. The meeting’s co-hosts, the United Nations and Pakistan’s government, said more than $9 billion had been pledged from bilateral and multilateral partners. Among the donors were the Islamic Development Bank ($4.2 billion), the World Bank ($2 billion), Saudi Arabia ($1 billion), as well as the European Union and China, Pakistan Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said. “Today has truly been a day which gives us great hope,” said Hina Rabbani Khar, Pakistan’s minister of state for foreign affairs. Millions of homes, tens of thousands of schools as well as thousands of kilometers of roads and railways still need to be rebuilt, the UN says.

☆ Pakistan Works to Revive IMF Bailout
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Saeed Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pakistan says some 33 million people were affected by devastating flooding over the summer. ISLAMABAD—Pakistan held talks Monday with the International Monetary Fund in an effort to restart a stalled bailout program, as economists warn that the country is in danger of defaulting on its foreign debt. Foreign currency reserves have shrunk to critical levels, enough to cover only about three weeks’ worth of imports, according to financial analysts. Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that he had pleaded to the IMF to pause what he called harsh conditions to its loan.

☆ UN chief calls for 'massive investments' for Pakistan recovery
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

September's floods, which are still receding, killed at least 1,700 people and displaced around 8 million. "We must match the heroic response of the people of Pakistan with our own efforts and massive investments to strengthen their communities for the future," Guterres said in opening remarks. "Pakistan is doubly victimized by climate chaos and a morally bankrupt global financial system," he added, calling for creative ways for developing countries to access debt relief and financing. In a video message, France President Emmanuel Macron pledged $10 million in additional aid support. Reporting by Emma Farge, Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber in Geneva and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, editing by Ed OsmondOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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