The federal Minister for Finance and Revenue, Shaukat Tarin, has urged officials to adopt forward planning while dealing with volatile energy prices in international markets.
He said this at a meeting with the federal Minister for Energy, Hammad Azhar, and the Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Power and Petroleum, Tabish Gauhar, at the Finance Division today.
The Secretary of Power, the Secretary of the Finance Division, and other senior officers attended the meeting.
The Minister for Finance emphasized the importance of risk hedging to dampen the impact of the recent fluctuations in the global prices of crude oil and petroleum products particularly due to the supply side disruptions amid the pandemic.
He also stressed the need to explore cost-effective options such as renewable sources of energy for a sustainable energy equation by reducing the reliance on expensive power-producing plants to make the energy sector dynamic and sustainable.
The Minister for Energy briefed the attendees of the meeting about the growing demand for energy, installed generation capacity, transmission capability, and the steps being taken to improve the transmission and distribution systems to reduce costs and ensure sustainability.
In his concluding remarks, Minister Tarin stated that the incumbent government is cognizant of its obligation to fulfill the energy requirements at affordable rates for electricity consumers, and said that it is taking all possible measures to meet future energy demands. He also affirmed full support to and facilitation of the energy sector.
