An audit has revealed that five countries owe Pakistan tens of millions of dollars, with the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) recommending that the matter be taken up at the appropriate diplomatic level for recovery, it emerged on Tuesday.
Officials at the Ministry of Economic Affairs said they were pursuing the recovery through the Foreign Office, using diplomatic channels and joint ministerial committees. Reminder letters and demand notices have also been sent to the five defaulting countries.
According to the audit report, the list of defaulters includes Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Iraq, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau, from which Pakistan has so far failed to recover $304.5 million.
The report said Pakistan extended export credit to these countries during the 1980s and 1990s. In Pakistani currency, the unpaid amount exceeds Rs86 billion.
Iraq tops the list of debtors, with $231.3 million outstanding, followed by Sudan, which owes $46.6 million. Bangladesh's outstanding debt amounts to $21.4 million, relating to sugar plant and cement projects. Guinea-Bissau owes $3.653 million.
The report notes that the AGP had also flagged the unpaid amounts in the 2006-07 audit, at which time reminder letters and demand notices were sent.
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