Pakistan owes Iran $100m for electricity imports
PRESSTV (Iran) Sat Sep 27, 2014 4:49PM GMT
http://presstv.com/detail/2014/09/27/380221/pakistan-owes-iran-100m-for-electricity/
Pakistan’s unpaid electricity bills to Iran has exceeded USD 100 million as
Islamabad fails to settle its debt due to the US-led banking restrictions
against the Islamic Republic, a report says.
Pakistan has been importing 74 megawatts (MW) of electricity per day from
Iran since 2002, to feed the border areas of its Baluchistan Province under
a 12-year agreement which expires in December 2014.
A senior Pakistani official said his country is paying 10 cents per unit of
electricity under the formula agreed with Iran.
The official, whose name was not revealed, said Islamabad plans to send a
delegation to Iran to discuss the possibility of continuation of Iran's
electricity exports to Pakistan.
In 2002, Pakistan and Iran reached an agreement to supply electricity from
Iran to the areas of Pakistan's Balochistan Province, including Gwadar.
At the beginning of 2012, the US and EU imposed sanctions on Iran’s oil and
financial sectors with the goal of preventing other countries from
purchasing Iranian oil and conducting transactions with the Central Bank of
Iran.
Pakistan is battling chronic electricity shortage, which is inflaming public
anger and stifling industrial output, as power outages can last eight to 10
hours a day in cities, with much more frequent cuts in rural areas.
YH/KA/SS
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