Lowering Fuel Imports.

A recent report has unveiled an interesting statistic. At a time when Pakistan needs to severely exercise austerity in dealing with foreign exchange, the country is spending 66 percent of its foreign exchange reserves on fuel imports, approximately a cumulative sum of $21.43 billion. This is a significant increase from previous years, with a major factor being that the fuel cost per unit of energy generated from imported coal increased from Rs. 20.17/kWh to Rs. 29.12/kWh.

This is clearly not sustainable. Fuel is one product for which demand will only keep increasing-it is not a practical approach for the government to focus on lowering demand. The only solution is for the government to find alternative sources of fuel, preferably indigenous and which do not take up the country's foreign exchange reserves at a time when our export growth is not optimal. The above statistic about the rise of imported fuel cost per energy is important when compared to another statistic-the per unit cost...