ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is planning to issue a $500 million green bond in the next few months to help boost its development of hydroelectric power, international media reported.
Last August, Pakistan set in motion a plan to boost the share of its electric power that comes from renewables to 30% by 2030, up from about 4%.
The bond, denominated in euros, will be the government’s first to fund environmental goals, Malik Amin Aslam, an adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan on climate change, said in an interview with Bloomberg. It is set to be issued through the country’s state-owned Water & Power Development Authority, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. advising, he said.
“We’ve got a lot of hydro potential in Pakistan,” he said. “The bonds are there to accelerate this.”
Khan’s government is investing in renewable energy to ramp up its economic stimulus in the wake of the pandemic. It’s also promised to ban new coal power plants and is looking to plant 10 billion trees. The nation’s cities rank among the worst globally for air pollution, according to IQAir.
With boosts in hydropower capacity expected, the shift could bring the share of clean energy in Pakistan’s electricity mix to 65% by 2030, Nadeem Babar, head of a task force on energy reforms in Pakistan, has said.
The new national renewables policy, approved by the prime minister’s cabinet in December 2019, was delayed by the coronavirus pandemic and as negotiators tried to resolve disputes with individual provinces.
But Asad Umar, federal minister for planning and development, has said on social media the resolution of those disputes now opened the way to “unleash Pakistan’s full potential” for renewables.
The issuance of green bonds globally is seen surging to $375 billion in 2021 by Moody’s Investors Service, after record sales last year. While Europe has led the way, countries from Singapore to Brazil plan to sell their first to tap buoyant investor demand.
Pakistan plans to issue $500 mln green bond to boost hydro power
https://arab.news/96yun
Pakistan plans to issue $500 mln green bond to boost hydro power
- The bond will be the government’s first to fund environmental goals, adviser to PM Khan on climate change says
- Last August, Pakistan announced new policy to boost share of its electric power from renewables to 30% by 2030, up from about 4%
IMF hails Pakistan privatization drive, calls PIA sale a ‘milestone’
- Fund backs sale of national airline as key step in divesting loss-making state firms
- IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce fiscal burden posed by state-owned entities
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Saturday welcomed Pakistan’s privatization efforts, describing the sale of the country’s national airline to a private consortium last month as a milestone that could help advance the divestment of loss-making state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
The comments follow the government’s sale of a 75 percent stake in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to a consortium led by the Arif Habib Group for Rs 135 billion ($486 million) after several rounds of bidding in a competitive process, marking Islamabad’s second attempt to privatize the carrier after a failed effort a year earlier.
Between the two privatization attempts, PIA resumed flight operations to several international destinations after aviation authorities in the European Union and Britain lifted restrictions nearly five years after the airline was grounded following a deadly Airbus A320 crash in Karachi in 2020 that killed 97 people.
“We welcome the authorities’ privatization efforts and the completion of the PIA privatization process, which was a commitment under the EFF,” Mahir Binici, the IMF’s resident representative in Pakistan, said in response to an Arab News query, referring to the $7 billion Extended Fund Facility.
“This privatization represents a milestone within the authorities’ reform agenda, aimed at decreasing governmental involvement in commercial sectors and attracting investments to promote economic growth in Pakistan,” he added.
The IMF has long urged Islamabad to reduce the fiscal burden posed by loss-making state firms, which have weighed public finances for years and required repeated government bailouts. Beyond PIA, the government has signaled plans to restructure or sell stakes in additional SOEs as part of broader reforms under the IMF program.
Privatization also remains politically sensitive in Pakistan, with critics warning of job losses and concerns over national assets, while supporters argue private sector management could improve efficiency and service delivery in chronically underperforming entities.
Pakistan’s Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises said on Friday that SOEs recorded a net loss of Rs 122.9 billion ($442 million) in the 2024–25 fiscal year, compared with a net loss of Rs 30.6 billion ($110 million) in the previous year.
