Political unrest in Pakistan affects foreign reserves

Pakistani foreign reserves have trembled under political instability and ongoing tensions which mainly include terrorism, are also affecting the foreign reserves. President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Ijaz Abbasi said:

‘Political uncertainty is the only factor pushing the market down and forced investors to offload their shares,’

He said the World Bank last month estimated that 33 countries were threatened with political and social unres

t because of the skyrocketing costs of food and energy, and Pakistan is among the list.

He said the dollar rose sharply against the Pakistani rupee and the only reason was the lack of political stability in the country. It definitely increases the trade deficit for the investors because we get fewer amounts form our exports and our imports cost us much due to the decrease in the value of rupee.

To prevent a sharp slide of the rupee against US dollar, the authorities should intervene and take the issue seriously; otherwise our economy will suffer a lot.

Zardari seeks more foreign aid to fight against terror

President Asif Ali Zardari has urged the international community to enhance Pakistan’s ability to fight militancy through a massive infusion of funds targeted at socio-economic development, education and employment, particularly in the tribal areas even as a key parliamentary panel has urged a peace deal with the Taliban in the country’s northwest.
Noting that more than half of the country’s 170 million population comprised youth below the age of 25, Zardari said:

“Their frustration with the current socio-economic situationand unemployment is creating a breeding ground for social unrest and militancy in the country.”

Pakistan is most likely to face a major energy crisis in natural gas, power and oil in the next three to four years...

Pakistan has been facing an exceptional energy crisis since the last few years. The problem becomes more severe during summers. However, this winter was no different. During the peak crisis there was a power outage of 3-4 hours everyday. Those without generators and UPS faced tremendous problems.

The prices of both continued to increase due to a sharp increase in their demand. During the Load Shedding hours every where whether in houses or the markets people are busy in turning off and turning on the generators or any other alternate energy source. The petrol stations are rushed with the office boys or the home servants in order to get the fuels for the generators. Can there be anything greater to cause Social Unrest than the Electricity Crisis? Now winters have already jumped in and the Load Shedding of Gas has been started without any notification. Can there be anything greater to cause Social Unrest than the Natural Gas Crisis? When the households or the Commercial unit doesn’t know that when will there be a Gas outage and when will the supply restore.

The policy makers of Pakistan have so far failed to understand one thing. They do talk about making dams and setting up nuclear power plants but why do they not understand the importance and benefits of alternate energy sources such as solar, windmill energy etc. They are cheap and quick methods for producing electricity. Pakistan is a very blessed country because solar energy is available in most cities all year round similarly wind energy is readily available in the coastal areas. These energy sources if tapped can be of great help in reducing the current demand supply gap.