PSO receives Rs 28 billion as circular debt mounts

KARACHI – The cash strapped state oil marketing company, Pakistan State Oil (PSO), has received around Rs 28 billion from the Ministry of Finance against dues owed by Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) and Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO). Given that the amount of circular debt has ballooned to Rs 168 billion, the finance ministry, as part of its effort to clear the circular debt, has made a payment of Rs 28 billion to the PSO on Wednesday, sources said.
However, PSO claims that only Rs 20 billion has been received from the government against the dues of PEPCO and KAPCO. It states that Rs 15 billion was paid against the dues owed by PEPCO while another Rs 5.0 billion was received against the dues of KAPCO. The official sources, however, did not share further details about the fresh payments it received from the government. According to the Finance Ministry sources, the payment was made to PSO after the receipt of payments from WAPDA and KAPCO. Earlier, PSO circular debt had touched a record peak of Rs 168 billion as the government failed to pay Rs 30 billion to the PSO during the last week. The government has approved Rs 30 billion for the PSO, but only Rs 150 million was paid during the last week. The PSO has to pay Rs 150 billion to the national and international refineries, while the company has to recover Rs 153 billion from WAPDA, HUBCO and KEPCO.