Government reviews business rules to draw investment, minister says

The federal government is reviewing business regulations to remove those it considers unnecessary and to simplify procedures, with the stated aim of making Pakistan a more attractive destination for domestic and foreign investment, the adviser to the prime minister for industries said on Monday.

Haroon Akhtar Khan, adviser to the prime minister and federal minister for industries and production, said the government was working to eliminate unnecessary regulations and simplify business procedures, the Associated Press of Pakistan reported. The report did not identify the regulations under review, the sectors affected, or when any changes would take effect.

In a separate report, APP said the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) is stepping up engagement with the business community to address the difficulties firms raise, improve the ease of doing business and promote an environment it described as enabling for trade, investment and enterprise growth. That report also gave no details of which businesses were consulted, what they asked for, or what had been agreed.

Neither statement carried figures on investment inflows, on the number of regulations to be scrapped, or on the expected cost of the changes, and no notification or policy document was released with either, according to the reports.

Separately, the federal minister for energy, Sardar Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari, told the Senate on Tuesday that the government was considering extending electricity relief to households consuming up to 250 units a month, and was developing a system to determine eligibility on the basis of financial need rather than electricity consumption alone, Minute Mirror reported. Leghari said the aim was to ensure that electricity subsidies reached low-income households instead of better-off consumers, according to the report.

The outlet's headline referred to relief "beyond 200 units", while its report on the Senate session said the proposal covered households using up to 250 units a month. The report did not say what the expanded relief would cost, how financial need would be assessed, or when a decision might be taken.

The statements were reported on consecutive days and set out the direction of policy rather than approved measures. Both the deregulation review and the power subsidy proposal would require administrative or cabinet decisions before taking effect, and the reports did not say whether either had yet been placed before the federal cabinet.

Pakistan's investment climate has been a recurring subject of government statements, with ministers repeatedly pledging to cut procedure and lure foreign capital, though such announcements have often come without published implementation plans.