President Asif Ali Zardari said on Saturday that 30 billion-dollar investment had been planned for power sector by 2016, of which 20 billion dollars would be contributed by the private sector. Addressing the joint sitting of the Parliament, the President said the investment in power sector included development of the long awaited Thar coal project.
The President said that the government inherited power shortage of around 3,500 megawatts, and added the private sector had been encouraged to come forward. A number of IPPs and rental power projects were being set up and some of them would be commissioned this year, he said.
The President said that construction of 1000 MW Neelum Hydel Project in Azad Kashmir had started. The source of eight billion-dollar funding for Basha Dam had been identified, the President said, adding its construction would start in about a years time.
About economy, he said that when the government took over, it faced a situation of near economic meltdown due to problems inherited and also due to global recession. The government inherited massive shortfall in energy, dwindling foreign exchange reserves and rising inflation, he said, and added that the difficult decisions had to be taken for economic stability.
A home grown economic reforms programme was developed, he said, appreciating the Prime Minister for taking difficult decisions. These decision were difficult but were necessary, said Zardari. The President said the reforms programme had started showing results with inflation declining from over 25 percent in August 2008 to 21 percent, which would come down to single digit by next fiscal. "Since the second quarter, there has been no net borrowing from the State Bank of Pakistan. The rupee recovered some of the value it lost in October 2008," he said.
The remittances, according to the President, have grown in the first eight months of the on-going financial year. Foreign exchange reserves stood at 6.4 billion dollars in November last and a week ago, it was over 10 billion dollars, he said.