Power sector receivables increase to Rs 470 billion

The government is itself to blame for the power crisis as the total receivable of the power sector have reached Rs 470 billion against the total payables of Rs 422 billion, an official source said. The source said if the government cleared all its dues, the power sector would become profitable and all he constraint in the energy supply chain would vanish immediately. The woes of the power sector stem from the non availability of a cushion to overcome cash flow problems, as the system runs on very low profitability with no capacity to absorb shocks. The Ministry of Water and Power is looking forward to the meeting of the Federal Adjustor on July 23 for the decision of at source deduction of the non-paying government departments.

The federal government is withholding Rs 87 billion under the tariff differential subsidy (TDS) for the last fiscal year. The provincial government of Sindh and Karachi Electric Supply Company are the other major defaulters with Rs 55 billion outstanding dues against each, while the private sector owes Rs 171 billion. The source added that if the government cleared the outstanding dues of the power sector, the woes of Pakistan State Oil could be eliminated in one go and its demand for an immediate release of Rs 32 billion to avoid a looming default could be met. The Ministry of Water and Power has already demanded from the Ministry of Finance that TDS should be provided either in one go for the current fiscal year or on a monthly basis to avoid violent street protests. The Finance Ministry is reluctant to accept TDS of Rs 184 billion, the actual figure for the last fiscal year. At present there is a TDS of Rs 3.06 per kWh. The current notified tariff is Rs 8.88 per unit as compared to NEPRA’s determined tariff of 11.94 per unit. Under instructions from the prime minister, the fuel oil supply has jumped from average 11,000 tons to 27,500 tons a day during the last 10 days, resulting in significant improvement in power supply.