WSJ When Muhammad Imtiaz received an electricity bill of over $120 last summer, he panicked. The bill, for June and July, was all he earns in a month of ferrying passengers on his motorbike in the scrappy suburbs outside Pakistan\u2019s capital Islamabad. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In his two-room home, where he lives with his wife and four children, he only has a fridge and lights. He runs two fans in the summer months when heat can exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cShould I give my rent, pay the electricity bill, or buy food for my children?\u201d said Imtiaz, who has racked up $3,000 in debt. His family has one meal a day: watered-down lentils with flatbread. A decade ago, Pakistan, cripplingly short of power, turned to Beijing to build more than a dozen coal, solar and hydroelectric power plants as part of China\u2019s huge infrastructure push in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now a series of policy mistakes by Islamabad means that Pakistan has enough electricity and more\u2014but, due to the huge debt owed to China, few can afford it. The crisis is overwhelming Pakistan\u2019s fragile economy, throwing millions of households into misery, shredding government finances and shutting down industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> Pakistan\u2019s Reliance on Chinese-Built Power Plants Is Strangling Its Economy\u2014Pakistan turned to Beijing to solve a crippling energy shortage. Now, crushed under debt and sky-high energy prices, its economy is diving.@SaeedShah<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/fVY63hSYHm<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/fVY63hSYHm<\/a><\/p>— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) December 4, 2024<\/a><\/blockquote>