Energy in Pakistan - Response

Response

In the days following the announcement, traders in Lahore rejected the government's decision and kept the markets open after 8 pm in defiance of the ban. Shops were kept open in other cities also after 8 pm. Kashif Shabbir, president of the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce warned the situation would get worse if authorities used force to implement the decision. There was confusion over implementation of the two day weekend, and many banks and educational institutions remained open. Commenting on the defiant mood of the traders, an editorial in Dawn urged everybody to find middle ground.

Reacting to the decision to curtail power supply to Karachi, the "City of Lights", leaders of various political parties in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh condemned the decision and some of them called it "a conspiracy to create a law and order situation." Former Nazim of Karachi, Naimatullah Khan warned that curtailing the power supply of the city could lead to street battles between protesters and law enforcement.

Some analysts have predicted that reduction in the banks' workweek to 5 days will result in revenue losses.

The prevailing energy crisis in Pakistan is taking away 2 percent (or Rs380 billion) of the economy, despite the government has spent Rs1.1 trillion as subsidies on the sector in the last four-year which accounts for 2.5 percent of the total volume of economy.

President Asif Ali Zardari has said that the government realised the enormity of the challenge of energy shortage and was determined to overcome it in the shortest possible time.