KARACHI, Pakistan—When Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to office in 2013, rolling power outages across the country were plunging homes and businesses into darkness for up to 12 hours a day. Now the Pakistani leader is betting on a $21 billion Chinese-backed splurge on energy projects to boost the economy—and his re-election bid. More than...
Pakistan 's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has secured $ 21bn of Chinese investment in energy projects , the first major improvement to Pakistan 's energy supply in two years . The 10 government - financed energy projects being built around Pakistan are set to increase the country 's energy output by 10 % in two years . Sharif is hoping the investments in energy will improve his chances for re - election , according to Minister for Petroleum Shahid bin Abbasi . This assistance by China to fix Pakistan 's energy infrastructure could boost Pakistan 's GDP growth to 7 % annually .