Pakistan's government allocates PK5trn for PSDP programme

Pakistan's cement industry has received a positive news from government, which may accelerate demands for cement in local markets. On the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan for making the Public Private Partnership Authority (PPPA) fully functional through placement of its rules, the PTI-led government wants to launch PSDP-Plus with portfolio of over PKR5trn (US$32.2bn) for next three years.
 
According to media, keeping in view severe resource constraints at a time when Pakistan is currently under tight scrutiny of the IMF programme, top officials of the PM Office came up with the idea for launching Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) Plus for execution of 53 projects through public private partnership (PPP) mode to kick-start sluggish economic activities and achieving growth rate of six per cent.
 
Meanwhile, in a media disclosure, Senior Vice Chairman of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), Mr Farid Noor Ali Fazal stated that the cement industry is sitting on a huge unutilised capacity. It will dispatch just over 47Mt this year at the current rate against the installed capacity of 59.65Mt.
 
He feared that this situation will not trigger any investment and expansion and employment in the sector will gradually decrease. The government should start work on the Public Sector Development Programme and announced housing projects, which will boost the construction sector and create job opportunities for skilled and unskilled labour.