ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is witnessing eight to ten hours of unannounced power outages especially in rural areas as the country faces acute fuel shortage after a historic surge in prices of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and coal in the international market in recent weeks.
The overall energy shortfall is higher than 7,000 megawatts (MWs) due to insufficient fuel supply to power plants along with issues related to their upkeep.
“The reason behind load shedding is that over 5,000 MWs are out of service due to fuel shortage and over 2,000 MWs are out of service due to maintenance issues,” Finance Minister Miftah Ismail told Arab News before leaving for Washington on Thursday to meet senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials and ensure the revival of a stalled $6 billion loan program.
The minister failed to specify the reason behind the fuel shortage or how long would the maintenance of power plants take.
Pakistan is struggling to meet its soaring energy needs amid surging fuel prices in Europe and Asia, partly as a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. Also, the country’s foreign exchange reserves are depleting fast due to its rising imports and it has become difficult to afford to LNG and coal from the international market to generate electricity.
“We will improve the situation in a few weeks,” the finance minister promised.
However, electricity consumers are finding it difficult to deal with the problem right in the middle of Ramadan.
“Summer is just starting and we have been facing eight to ten hours daily of unannounced load-shedding,” Usman Naseem, a resident of Chakwal, told Arab News.
Economists and analysts said the power crisis was mainly caused by the “mismanagement” of the power sector and it would take some time to fix it.
“It is a delicate and challenging job to ensure smooth fuel supply throughout the year to fulfill the energy requirements,” Khurram Husain, editor Profit magazine, told Arab News.
He blamed the managers of the previous government for their failure to ensure timely LNG procurement since they were running power plants on furnace oil. “The nation is paying for their blunders now,” he said.
Syed Atif Zafar, chief economist at Topline Securities, said the power outages would continue to be observed this summer since there was no short-term strategy in sight to deal with the challenge.
“The LNG prices have skyrocketed in the international market in recent months, and Pakistan unfortunately doesn’t have a viable plan in place to procure the costly product to ensure its energy security,” he said.
Zafar pointed out that Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves had fallen to $10.5 billion and the government was struggling to pay for essential imports.
“Our economic managers in the government need to chart out a long-term strategy to ensure timely procurement of the LNG to fulfill domestic and industrial energy needs,” he added.
Fuel shortage leads to prolonged power cuts in Pakistan
https://arab.news/2zey6
Fuel shortage leads to prolonged power cuts in Pakistan
- The country faces 7,000-megawatt shortfall and is witnessing eight to ten hours of power outages
- Experts say Pakistan’s economic managers need to devise long-term strategy for energy security
Pakistan says repaid over $13.06 billion domestic debt early in last 14 months
- Finance adviser says repayment shows “decisive shift” toward fiscal discipline, responsible economic management
- Says Pakistan’s total public debt has declined from over $286.6 billion in June 2025 to $284.7 billion in November 2025
KARACHI: Pakistan has repaid Rs3,650 billion [$13.06 billion] in domestic debt before time during the last 14 months, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad said on Thursday, adding that the achievement reflected a shift in the country’s approach toward fiscal discipline.
Schehzad said Pakistan has been repaying its debt before maturity, owed to the market as well as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), since December 2024. He said the government had repaid the central bank Rs300 billion [$1.08 billion] in its latest repayment on Thursday.
“This landmark achievement reflects a decisive shift toward fiscal discipline, credibility, and responsible economic management,” Schehzad wrote on social media platform X.
Giving a breakdown of what he said was Pakistan’s “early debt retirement journey,” the finance official said Pakistan retired Rs1,000 billion [$3.576 billion] in December 2024, Rs500 billion [$1.78 billion] in June 2025, Rs1,160 billion [$4.150 billion] in August 2025, Rs200 billion [$715 million] in October 2025, Rs494 billion [$1.76 billion] in December 2025 and $1.08 billion in January 2026.
He said with the latest debt repaid today, the July to January period of fiscal year 2026 alone recorded Rs2,150 billion [$7.69 billion] in early retirement, which was 44 percent higher than the debt retired in FY25.
He said of the total early repayments, the government has repaid 65 percent of the central bank’s debt, 30 percent of the treasury bills debt and five percent of the Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) debt.
The official said Pakistan’s total public debt has declined from over Rs 80.5 trillion [$286.6 billion] in June 2025 to Rs80 trillion [$284.7 billion] in November 2025.
“Crucially, Pakistan’s debt-to-GDP ratio, around 74 percent in FY22, has declined to around 70 percent, reflecting a broader strengthening of fiscal fundamentals alongside disciplined debt management,” Schehzad wrote.
Pakistan’s government has said the country’s fragile economy is on an upward trajectory. The South Asian country has been trying to navigate a tricky path to economic recovery under a $7 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
