Pakistan doesn’t have money for imports, may face Blackout Says Khawaja Asif

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 06 Jan 2023

ISLAMABAD: Nine months after coming into power, Federal Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has revealed that the country doesn’t have enough money for imports, and if the government’s directives regarding energy conservation are not followed, the country may face Blackout and plunges into darkness.

His fearful remarks during the course of a TV talk show, aired by a private channel the other day.

On Jan 3, Khawaja Asif along with other ministers announced a series of austerity measures aimed at saving energy and cutting short the fuel import bills.

“As per the plan, marriage lawns will close at 10 PM and markets will close at 8:30 PM. Earlier, we had decided to close markets at 8 PM but following a meeting between traders and PM Shehbaz Sharif, the timings were enhanced to 8:30 PM,” announced the government.

When asked about punitive measures if the directives were not followed, Khawaja Asif said the government politely try to convince every segment of society including traders and businessmen to comply with the austerity directives or else the country would plunge into darkness.

The Defense Minister, whose government came into power with the help of nearly a dozen other parties in April last year following a series of campaigns, including the one against inflation, aimed at ousting the PTI-led regime, made it clear that the government had no money to facilitate imports, let alone buying fuel, and if the austerity measures were not followed, all shops and factories would shut down.