ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Finance has failed to fill the position of director general (DG) for Debt Policy Coordination Office.
According to officials, the position of DG Debt Policy Coordination Office is lying vacant for the last four months and the Ministry of Finance has not initiated any process to hire the new DG debt after the resignation of former DG Ehitsham Rashid.
Rashid had served as the DPCO DG for some three years and 10 months. The DPCO is responsible to present debt and fiscal statements every year to the parliament, so as to apprise it of the latest measures taken for public debt management. It works under the guidelines established by the Fiscal Responsibility and Debt Limitation Act.
Officials said that there was a dire need of a competent officer in DPCO as opponents of the incumbent government were criticizing the mounting debt.
They said the government had informed the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that over the next three years, the debt to GDP ratio is expected to remain 69.2pc in fiscal year 2021 from projected 74pc in 2019.
Besides this, officials said that the Ministry of Finance had also told IMF that the government was considering creating of a Debt Management Office (DMO) within the ministry.
The prime objective of DMO would be to structure and manage domestic debt, including NSS; and co-approve foreign debt terms/ structures, and all contingent liabilities.
According to the Ministry of Finance document, the contingent liabilities stood at Rs1.25 trillion as of September 2018. This included Rs1.19 billion in domestic currency and Rs59 billion in foreign currency.
Finance Division Spokesman Dr Khaqan Najeeb did not reply despite multiple attempts.
