Circular debt: PEPCO asks govt to release Rs96 billion

Punjab only province paying dues on time: CFO.

ISLAMABAD:

The resolution of circular debt, the root cause of the energy crisis in the country, is not possible without the federal and provincial governments paying Rs96 billion to Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco).

The federal finance secretary said in a recently held meeting that the basic reason for the circular debt is that the provinces have not paid their dues to Pepco.

Pepco Chief Financial Officer Razi Abbas told the meeting that an agreement on the payments was reached with the provinces on January 19, 2011 but has not been implemented completely. In the meeting, Balochistan had agreed to pay Rs2.8 billion while it has only paid Rs1 billion so far whereas Sindh has not paid anything from the promised Rs36 billion.  The Sindh government has not paid their dues despite an order by the Sindh High Court, Abbas said.

The Rs19.6 billion receivables from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government include Rs18 billion from private consumers that are currently held due to a stay order.  He said that the Punjab government has a satisfactory record of payment to Pepco and there was no complaint.



Published in The Express Tribune, May 31^st, 2011.