LAHORE: Lack of political stability has been a stumbling block to power sector reforms, said power sector experts. "Political instability has affected the power sector reform of the region, making hard decisions difficult to take. Slow progress of reform has also affected the sector viability, as signs of adverse effects on the power sector investment and performance are already visible," they said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has assured international energy and economic experts of early completion of the reforms process in a meeting the other day. He has pointed out that the reforms in power sector were grossly neglected in the past.

However, a power sector expert Muhammad Khalid said the reforms undertaken by this government have not produced any significant results so far. The complicated reforms which span over a number of years are unlikely to succeed in Pakistan. Instead, he said, the focus should now shift to performance improvement - irrespective of reform or not.

According to him, The IPP entry instead of solving the capacity addition problem has resulted in more problems for the state and the national utilities, he added. Khalid Pervez, another expert, said lack of progress of reform and cases of abandonment suggest that the state utilities would remain in place in the foreseeable future. The slow progress of reform and the long transition phase in which many countries find them now can seriously affect the future of the power sector in these countries. Moreover, there are also concerns about social sector and environmental consequences of the reform.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020