ISLAMABAD: The chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), Major General (r) Hafeezur Rehman, said this week the body would facilitate the “positive use” of virtual private network (VPN) services even as the government was determined to move ahead with plans to block unregistered VPNs by the end of this month.
The PTA says businesses and freelancers can continue to legally use VPNs by registering with the government, but unregistered VPNs will be blocked in Pakistan after Nov. 30. Authorities say the measures are meant to deter militants and other suspects who use VPNs to conceal their identities and spread “anti-state propaganda” and promote “blasphemous” or other illegal content online.
Digital rights activists say the move is part of government attempts to block vital tools that allow users to bypass restrictions amid a wave of digital crackdowns, particularly since the use of VPNs has sharply risen in Pakistan since February this year when the government banned X.
The federal government is also moving to implement a nationwide firewall to block malicious content, protect government networks from attacks, and allow the government to identify IP addresses associated with what it calls “anti-state propaganda” and terror attacks. Internet speeds have dropped by up to 30-40 percent over the past few months due to the firewall, according to the Wireless and Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (WISPAP).
“We don’t say to block the VPNs but to regulate the VPNs,” the PTA chairman said on Thursday during an address at Youth Safety Summit Pakistan, jointly organized by TikTok and the PTA.
“If somebody needs VPN for the business purposes, for some positive use, nobody will stop him, let me reassure you, we will facilitate him.”
Rehman said the authority issued its first letter for VPN registration back in December 2010.
“It is now 15 years,” he said. “We have been pushing people to please register with us so that their business is not disturbed.”
The PTA chairman urged TikTok and other social media platforms to use artificial intelligence tools to “block anti-state and blasphemous content.”
“This summit marks a significant step in our mission to secure a safe and inclusive digital environment for Pakistan’s youth,” Rehman said. “PTA remains steadfast in its efforts to implement innovative measures that protect children online and promote a digitally responsible society.”
Emir Gelen, the director of government relations and public policy at TikTok for the Middle East, Turkiye, Africa, Pakistan and South Asia, reaffirmed TikTok’s commitment to online safety at the summit.
“At TikTok, we are committed to ensuring the online safety and well-being of our users, particularly children and youth,” he said.
“We believe that this summit marks an important step toward creating a safer online environment in Pakistan … We’re dedicated to promoting digital literacy and online safety through our initiatives, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the PTA to achieve this goal.”
In August, the Pakistan Business Council (PBC) warned that frequent Internet disruptions and low speeds caused by poor implementation of the national firewall had led many multinational companies to consider relocating their offices out of Pakistan, with some having “already done so.” The Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), the country’s top representative body for the IT sector, warned this week Internet slowdowns and the restriction of VPN services could lead to financial losses and closures and increase operational costs for the industry by up to $150 million annually.
Pakistan’s IT and ITeS exports have been growing at an average of 30 percent per year, and are on the way to achieve over $15 billion in the next 5 years, according to industry data, provided the government ensures continuity in export, fiscal, financial, SME, infrastructure and IT policies.
“If the VPNs are blocked, most of IT companies, Call Centers, BPO [business process outsourcing] organizations of Pakistan will lose all the major Fortune 500 clients, as well as others – as data protection and cybersecurity are of paramount importance to our clients, and connecting to client systems through VPN is a global norm and standard, and is a basic requirement and expectation of clients around the world,” P@SHA Chairman Sajjad Mustafa Syed said in a statement released on Tuesday.
“Additionally, no international company of any size tolerates any intrusion into their security protocols by any private or public institution.”
Pakistan telecom regulator affirms support for ‘positive use’ as VPN ban deadline looms
https://arab.news/ck6y5
Pakistan telecom regulator affirms support for ‘positive use’ as VPN ban deadline looms
- PTA says businesses can use VPNs by registering with government but unregistered VPNs will be blocked after Nov. 30
- Rights activists say government wants to block vital tools that allow users to bypass restrictions amid digital crackdown
Pakistan secures $1.2 billion as IMF clears reviews, flags gains on stability and reforms
- IMF praises Pakistan’s policy implementation despite challenging global environment and climate-driven shocks
- The Executive Board urges faster energy, SOE and governance reforms for macroeconomic and fiscal sustainability
KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved Pakistan’s second review under its Extended Fund Facility (EFF) and the first review of its Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), said a statement on Tuesday, unlocking about $1.2 billion in new financing while praising the country’s progress in stabilizing the economy despite recent floods.
The decision taken by the IMF Executive Board allows Islamabad to draw $1 billion under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF, bringing total disbursements under both arrangements to about $3.3 billion. The Fund said Pakistan’s policy implementation had improved financing conditions, strengthened reserves and preserved stability even as the country faced a challenging global environment and climate-driven shocks.
Under the 37-month EFF, approved last year in September, the IMF noted strong fiscal performance, including a primary surplus of 1.3 percent of GDP, a rebound in gross reserves to $14.5 billion by end-FY25 from $9.4 billion a year earlier and progress on rebuilding confidence. It noted a surge in inflation due to flood-related food price spikes but said it was expected to ease.
“Pakistan’s reform implementation under the EFF arrangement has helped preserve macroeconomic stability in the face of several recent shocks,” IMF Deputy Managing Director Nigel Clarke said. “Real GDP growth has accelerated, inflation expectations have remained anchored, and fiscal and external imbalances have continued to moderate.”
Clarke said Islamabad’s commitment to meeting its FY26 primary balance target while also addressing urgent post-flood relief signaled strong fiscal intent. He urged continued tax policy simplification and base broadening to build space for climate resilience, social protection and public investment.
The IMF official maintained a tight monetary stance should be continued to keep inflation within the State Bank Pakistan’s target range, while allowing exchange-rate flexibility and deepening the interbank market.
Additionally, he said financial regulation enforcement and capital market development were essential for a resilient financial sector.
The IMF also flagged energy sector reforms as “critical to safeguarding viability,” noting that timely tariff adjustments had helped curb circular debt but that Pakistan must now focus on reducing electricity production and distribution costs and addressing operational inefficiencies in both the power and gas sectors.
The statement also welcomed the publication of Pakistan’s Governance and Corruption Diagnostic report, a detailed IMF-supported assessment that maps out where government systems are vulnerable to inefficiency or misuse and recommends reforms to improve transparency, accountability and service delivery.
Further priorities include the privatization of state-owned enterprises and strengthening economic data quality.
Clarke said reducing Pakistan’s climate vulnerability was vital for long-term stability, referring to the RSF, a financing tool that provides long-term, low-cost loans to help countries address climate risks.
“The RSF arrangement is supporting efforts to strengthen natural disaster response and financing coordination, improve the use of scarce water resources, raise climate considerations in project selection and budgeting, and improve the information on climate-related risks in financing decisions,” he said.
Pakistan faced a prolonged economic crisis in recent years before it began implementing stringent IMF-recommended reforms, which have driven a gradual improvement in macroeconomic indicators over the past two years.
The country also remains one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable nations despite contributing less than one percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions.
It has endured a series of extreme weather events in recent years, most notably the 2022 super-floods that submerged one-third of the country, displaced millions and caused an estimated $30 billion in losses.
This year’s floods killed over 1,000 people and caused at least $2.9 billion in damage to agriculture and infrastructure, underscoring the scale of climate pressures facing the economy.
Economic experts told Arab News a day earlier that the Fund’s disbursements under the two loan programs would support the cash-strapped nation, which has relied heavily on financing from bilateral partners such as Saudi Arabia, China and the United Arab Emirates, as well as multilateral lenders.
“It obviously will help strengthen the external sector, the balance of payments,” said Samiullah Tariq, group head of research at Pakistan Kuwait Investment Company.
Another analyst, Shankar Talreja, head of research at Karachi-based Topline Securities, said the move was likely to send a positive signal to domestic and international investors about the government’s commitment to its reform agenda.
“This will help strengthen reserves and will eventually help a rating upgrade going forward,” he said.
