Electricity generation tariffs in several emerging markets are still pegged to the US dollar — not household bills, but IPP / PPA contracts. To attract foreign lenders, the plant’s capacity payment, equity return and foreign debt are priced in USD (or paid in local currency and reset with the dollar). clearest cases: • Pakistan — NEPRA still indexes most IPP tariffs to PKR/USD, US CPI and SOFR started under 1994 policy by PPP and 2002 policy by Musharrf still having most power plants under these policies • Indonesia — rupiah PPAs, heavily USD-linked • Bangladesh, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Zambia • Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic • Turkey now pays in lira but keeps a USD floor/ceiling US, EU, India and South Africa generally do not do this. Their projects are financed in local currency. That dollar clause made plants bankable in the 1990s–2010s. Pakistan, Ghana and Kenya are now trying to cap or unwind it. Dollar-pegged power is a financing tool.

From reforming wheat procurement to modernising grain storage, Punjab’s agricultural value chain is beginning to advance to its next stage. Chief Minister @MaryamNSharif 's decision to move towards private-sector-led wheat procurement for strategic reserves represented an important shift in the role of government: from serving as the dominant buyer and holder of wheat to establishing an enabling framework in which competitive markets, private capital and professionally managed supply chains can play a greater role. The next logical step is the development of modern storage infrastructure. The establishment by Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) of a new grain storage facility in Multan, with approximately 40,000 metric tonnes of capacity, is significant beyond the scale of the investment itself. It demonstrates how credible market reforms can attract private and international capital across the agricultural value chain. For decades, one of the structural constraints facing our agriculture has been the gap between what we produce and the efficiency with which we procure, store, preserve, finance, transport and market that produce. Modern silos and professionally managed grain-storage systems can help address this challenge. They can reduce post-harvest losses, improve quality and traceability, strengthen inventory management, enhance food security, facilitate warehouse-based financing, reduce distress selling after harvest, and create more efficient linkages between farmers, aggregators, processors, exporters and end markets. Most importantly, a stronger value chain can improve price discovery and increase competition for farmers’ produce. When farmers have access to more credible buyers, better storage options and more efficient routes from farm to market, they are better positioned to secure a fairer share of the value they create. This is the broader direction in which Punjab’s agricultural transformation must continue: government serving as regulator, facilitator and custodian of strategic food security, while the private sector assumes an increasingly important role as an investor, innovator, buyer, processor and operator of modern agricultural infrastructure. The objective is not merely to replace existing procurement or storage arrangements. It is to build an agricultural ecosystem in which public policy attracts private investment, reduces inefficiencies and progressively shifts value addition closer to the point of production. From strategic wheat reserves and market-based procurement to modern storage, processing, value addition and, ultimately, stronger domestic and export linkages, each reform should reinforce the next. Punjab has the scale, agricultural base and market potential to develop a world-class grain value chain. The opportunity now is to sustain the reform momentum and make agriculture more productive, competitive, technology-driven and rewarding for our farmers. #Punjab #Agriculture #Wheat #FoodSecurity #PrivateSector #Investment #Agribusiness #ValueChain #Farmers #Pakistan propakistani.pk/2026/09/02/d…