Power Ministry Spokesperson Clarifies News Item About Circular Debt

Spokesperson of the Power Division while commenting on current status of Power Sector Circular Debt, total liabilities and receivables said that Circular Debt at the beginning of Sep 2018 when the PTI government took office, was (1.33 trillion) and was increasing at a rate of Rs 38 billion a month

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Feb, 2020 ) :Spokesperson of the Power Division while commenting on current status of Power Sector Circular Debt, total liabilities and receivables said that Circular Debt at the beginning of Sep 2018 when the PTI government took office, was (1.33 trillion) and was increasing at a rate of Rs 38 billion a month.

With the measures taken by the government encapsulated in the Circular Debt Capping Plan, the Power Sector has considerably reduced the rate of increase to approximately Rs. 12-15 billion per month, said a press release issued here Friday.

The Spokesperson said that various measures including tariff rationalization, recovery drives, anti-theft campaign and system modernization were initiated. Due to these measures, the addition to circular debt is expected to be reduced to Rs. 130billion in 2019-2020 compared to the target of Rs 130bn in the Circular Debt capping plan.

Total Circular Debt as per the definition by December 2019 stood at Rs. 978 billion, owed to both public and private generators, while the liabilities of PHPL payable to banks for loans taken in the past to pay generators stood at Rs.804 billion, resulting in the total liabilities of Rs. 1782 billion.

The report in certain media sections that Circular Debt has reached 1.9 to 2 trillion is factually incorrect, it further said.

For the first time in the history of power sector, the sector has mobilised totally to fight against loss theft and corruption.

This is not a weekly campaign but has been sustained for more than a year. We are confidant that immense loss reduction, theft reduction and action against corrupt elements as well as improvement in infrastructure are leading to better service delivery to the common man and that we would fulfill the targets given in the circular Debt Capping Plan.