The budget for the financial year 2017-18 is scheduled to be announced on May 26, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said while talking to the media sources. He added that preparations for the annual budget are already underway.
He further said that it is the first time that the budget will be announced before June to allow time for subsequent parliamentary debate. He added that previous governments had made commitments to announce the budget in May but had failed to do so.
In reply to a question regarding the mounting circular debt and load shedding, Dar said that the figure for circular debt has been inflated and that that the figure of Rs 320b is normal for the circular debt supply chain as per the mechanism agreed upon by various government stakeholders after consultations with international financial institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He further stated that when the figure touched Rs 370b, a few days ago, the government made payments worth Rs 50b.
Dar claimed that it would not be reasonable to compare the Rs480b circular debt that the government cleared in 2013 after coming to power with the current payables and receivables that are in the normal threshold. Power plants and fuel suppliers follow independent credit cycles and payment schedules that range between 60 and 120 days. The overall payables are not all overdue as some people think, he stated.
