Performance report: Economy improves after wiping out circular debt

Report highlights measures taken to improve economy, governance.

ISLAMABAD: The national economy has shown significant improvement over the June-December period following clearance of longstanding circular debt worth Rs480 billion, leading to a significant reduction in electricity load-shedding from 18 to 8 hours.

This was stated in a report titled “The Performance of the Government – An Overview” released on Monday.

The report revealed that on the financial front, development outlay for the current year had been increased from Rs360 billion to Rs540 billion to stimulate economic activity, investment and employment in the country.

It added that the head of secret service expenditures for 32 ministries, departments and bodies had been abolished while discretionary funds had also been removed to implement austerity measures in government departments.



Expenditures on the Prime Minister’s Office have been slashed by more than 40%. Apart from this, expenditures have been reduced by 30% across-the-board in all ministries and purchases of new vehicles have also been banned, which will result in savings of Rs40 billion.

“A challenging target of Rs2,475 billion has been set for revenue collection in the current year,” the report said.

According to the performance report, the government has actively engaged Etisalat management for resolving outstanding issues.

A sum of Rs250 million has been released to the Pakistan Railways for the repair of 50 locomotives. Another Rs7 billion has been approved for Pakistan International Airlines for making payments.

The government has approved renewal of its guarantee vis-a-vis the running facility of Rs2 billion for the Pakistan Steel Mills.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2013.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.