Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) Chairman Zafar Mahmood tendered resignation from his post on Monday.
He sent his resignation to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Mahmood has thanked the prime minister for giving him the opportunity to serve as Chairman WAPDA and for supporting his candidacy.
Zafar Mahmood is going to continue serving as chairman until the appointment of his successor.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) — an umbrella organisation of all public-sector power companies — presented the ‘Financial Review 2015-16’ to the Prime Minister Office and the Ministry of Water and Power.
According to the report, Pakistan’s power sector receivables have crossed the Rs684 billion-mark, the highest they have ever been, despite a drastic 27 per cent cut in generation costs.
On top of that, the amount of the power sector’s payables also surged 44pc to Rs300bn on June 30, 2016, up from Rs207bn three years ago. This rise comes despite the Rs480bn paid by the government to power producers and fuel suppliers.
Receivables include amounts outstanding against power sector consumers and recoverable by the distribution companies, while their payables are amounts owed to independent power producers (IPPs), fuel suppliers and the Water and Power Development Authority.
On the positive side, Pepco reported an improvement in the recovery rate to 94.4pc for billed amounts of FY2015-16, compared with 89.2pc recovery in the same period last year. It also reported a decline in overall system losses from 18.7pc last year to 17.9pc in June this year.
The power sector has to pay Rs173bn to IPPs, Rs76bn to oil companies, Rs19bn to banks in debt servicing costs and Rs32bn to various generation and transmission companies as of June 30, 2016.