Business

K-Electric to refund Rs7.43/unit in Jan 2023 under FCA

Published

1 year ago

Farwa

NEPRA holds public hearing on petitions.
K-Electric to reimburse its consumers for the fifth month in a row.
KE refunded Rs2.456/unit to consumers in their December bills.

ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on Tuesday, after hearing petitions of K-Electric, directed the company to refund Rs7.43/unit to its clients in January 2023 bills on account of Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) for November 2022, reported The News on Wednesday.

The Karachi-based power facility had submitted its application to NEPRA, expressing its willingness to return Rs7.04/unit to consumers.

Chairman NEPRA Tauseef Farooqi chaired the NEPRA hearing. At the same time, the authority members from KP Engr Maqsood Anwar Khan, Balochistan Mathar Niaz Rana, and Sindh Rafique Ahmad Shaikh were also present.

NEPRA made the proposed calculation after calculating KE’s electricity sale-purchase data for November 2022.

In a few days, the regulator will issue its final judgment to incorporate these decisions in the consumer billings for January 2023.

This adjustment/relief would be available to all user categories of KE except lifeline power consumers, domestic consumers consuming up to 300 units, agricultural consumers, and electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS).

It is the fifth month in a row since July 2022 that the regulator has instructed K-Electric to reimburse the consumers’ specified per-unit charges.

Interestingly, in its earlier decision for October’s FCA, NEPRA had directed the utility to refund Rs2.456 per unit to consumers in their December bills. It was being paid back and had a total impact of Rs4.11 billion on the company.

A spokesperson of the company said, “November’s FCA was lower primarily due to a reduction in the prices of RLNG, furnace oil, and power purchased from CPPA-G (Central Power Purchasing Agency-Guaranteed) by 18%, 15%, and 37%, respectively as compared to September 2022.”

Utilities incur the FCA due to global variations in the fuel prices used to generate electricity and change in the generation mix. Furthermore, consumers also benefit when fuel prices decline compared to the reference month.

Regarding the FCA for September 2022, NEPRA had directed K-Electric to refund Rs5.126/unit to clients in their November bills with an impact of around Rs9 billion on the company.

For August’s FCA, the KE was directed to refund Rs4.8862/unit to consumers in October bills having an impact of around Rs8.5 billion. Likewise, for July 2022’s FCA, the regulator asked the KE to pay back Rs4.117/unit in September 2022 bills.

Business

There are US$13,280.5 million in foreign exchange reserves in Pakistan.

Published

13 hours ago

Farwa

According to a representative for the central bank, as of April 19, 2024, the nation’s total liquid foreign reserves were valued at US$ 13,280.5 million. A loss of US$74 million left the State Bank of Pakistan’s foreign reserves at US$7,981.2 million.

Commercial banks have $5,299.3 million in reserves for Pakistan.

In the week that concluded on April 12, the State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) foreign exchange reserves increased by $14.4 million to $8.055 billion.

“In a weekly statement, SBP stated that it has repaid US$ 1 billion in principal and interest on Pakistan’s International Bond, which matures this week.”

But at $13.374 billion, the nation’s total reserves decreased by $68 million. In the same way, commercial banks’ reserves dropped to $5.319 billion, a reduction of $82 million.

Business

NIMA seminar to increase Pakistan’s ship recycling industry’s capacity

Published

13 hours ago

Farwa

According to a release, important players from a range of maritime industries attended the conference to discuss issues facing the shipping sector.

It further stated that the symposium cleared the path for the resurgence of a sustainable future in ship recycling.

Participants in the conference included representatives of the Gadani Ship Breaking Labour Union, PSBA, KS&EW, KPT, PMSA, GEMS, and the federal and Balochistani governments.

Furthermore, global perspectives and ideas were offered by international specialists such as Rabia Razzaque from UN-ILO and Professor Raphael Baumler from the World Maritime University.

The seminar emphasized Pakistan’s capacity to emerge as a pioneer in the field of environmentally friendly ship recycling.

In order to protect the environment and the safety of employees, the participants emphasized the importance of following international standards and regulations.

During his speech, Chief Guest Senator Nisar Ahmed Khoro emphasized the importance of the maritime industry’s resurgence and the crucial necessity for coordinated efforts from all parties involved.

A new age of economic prosperity, worker safety, and environmental responsibility for Pakistan’s maritime industry was called for as he urged the stakeholders to work together on a comprehensive SENSREC program.

Vice Admiral Ahmed Saeed (Retd), the president of NIMA, emphasized the significance of environmental stewardship and safety in ship recycling procedures.

Business

Inflows into the Roshan Digital Account surged to $7.660 billion on March 24.

Published

13 hours ago

Farwa

According to the data, remittance inflows for the month of March totaled US$ 182 million, whereas they were US$ 141 million in February and US$ 142 million in January 2024.

Millions of Non-Resident Pakistanis (NRPs), including those who own Non-Resident Pakistan Origin Cards (POCs), can now engage in banking, payment, and investing activities in Pakistan with the help of these accounts, which offer cutting-edge banking solutions.

According to a statement from the State Bank of Pakistan, the number of accounts registered under the program increased by 11,091 from 668,701 accounts in February 2024 to 679,792 accounts in March 2024.

As of March 2024, the central bank reported that foreign nationals of Pakistan have invested US $312 million in Naya Pakistan Certificates, US $528 million in Naya Pakistan Islamic Certificates, and US $31 million in Roshan Equity Investment.

It is important to note that former prime minister Imran Khan introduced the Roshan Digital Account initiative in September 2020 with the goal of giving Pakistanis living abroad access to digital banking services for the first time.