Two and a half years have passed since the government of PML-N took over the reins of country after winning election 2013 mainly on the basis of promise made to the people of Pakistan that if elected, PML-N’s government would solve problem of energy shortage and end the load shedding from the county. That has not happened yet and is not likely to happen until and unless the issue of circular debts is resolved permanently. I believe circular debt is a serious bottleneck in the operation cycle of energy production and distribution. The government has not shared with public the information regarding latest stock and status of circular debt.
Electricity producers cannot produce electricity regularly and efficiently unless their debts are cleared by the purchasers which are country power distribution companies. The power distribution companies can’t pay to electricity producers because the former’s customers don’t pay regularly in time for the electricity consumed. Thus it has become a vicious circle. It is the responsibility of the government to fix the problem by removing the bottleneck wherever it exists in this business operation cycle. In any business operation, generally speaking, the terms of trade debts range from 30 days to a maximum of 120 days. It is extremely surprising that two and a half years have passed ( about 900 days) since the present government soon after coming into power in June 2013 paid off circular debt amounting Rs482 billions and to this date the people of Pakistan do not know what happened to the recovery of that circular debt.
I have high respect and regards for country’s Finance Minister Mr Ishaq Dar for his positive contribution so far to country’s economy but as custodian of country’s finance, it his duty to inform the recovery status of that circular debt which was paid from national wealth about 900 days ago. If no recovery has been made so far from that circular debt amounting to Rs482 billions despite passage of over 900 days, then it should not be called circular debt. It is actually a bad debt.
EJAZ AHMAD MAGOON
Lahore
