Pakistan experienced a nationwide power outage that left 220 million people without electricity. The outage began in the southern Sindh Province with an unusual fluctuation in voltage. Then power plants began to fail throughout the country. The plants lacked proper maintenance and the government had not yet invested in new equipment which led to quick failure of many plants.This outage is another example of how badly Pakistan is in need of an upgrade to their electrical infrastructure. Pakistan experienced a power outage in both January of 2021 and May of 2018. 

Some of Pakistan’s hospitals, government offices, schools, and airports are running on generators, but there isn’t enough for all. In the suburbs of Quetta City, there is a lack of generators which is causing problems for hospitals. The market had to to be closed. There are also water shortages due to the water pumps running on electricity. 

The power outage comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the federal departments to reduce energy consumption by thirty percent. Pakistan is facing financial problems that make addressing their energy and infrastructure issues difficult. Pakistan is facing alarmingly low levels in their foreign exchange reserves, assets held by the central bank. In December of 2022, their reserves stood at $11.7 billion which is half the amount that it started with in 2022.