A fresh call for a third-party audit has been issued by the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to re-authenticate the circular debt figure which have reported to have reached Rs480b. In a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, the PM has instructed for a third-party analysis to be conducted on the power and supply position in lieu of the slated power projects that will start running soon.
According to senior officials, the PM had shown his resentment at being misled by the power managers last year, and had called up former water and power secretary Yousaf Dagha to answer queries in this regard. Dagha said that this prevalent crisis was a management issue, and the demand and supply figures this year weren’t any different from a year ago, he added.
The issue of Pakistan State Oil’s receivables was also discussed and it came to light that Rs301b were owed by power companies which is the highest ever recorded figure. The PM also queried about idle power generation capacity but Yousaf Naseem Khokhar Water and Power secretary said that option had been put into consideration but had been ruled out due to lack of feasibility. The payment row between the Ministry of Finance and Power ministries was also discussed in this meeting.
