Daily Times

Islamabad Chamber of Small Traders (ICST) on Tuesday said circular debt of over Rs 1 trillion is a result of gross mismanagement by the former government which is now posing a serious threat to the economy.

The power sector circular debt has crossed the limit of Rs 1 trillion for the very first time in the history of the country which has become a threat to the Gross Domestic Product and it is hitting masses with power outages, it said.

The circular debt has become a big threat to the image, credit rating and economic revival which merits immediate attention of the new government, ICST Patron Shahid Rasheed Butt said.

The debt is hitting industrial expansion, private investment in energy projects and pushing away much-needed investment which is not affordable at this critical juncture, he said.

Shahid Rasheed Butt said that circular debt results in loss of productivity in almost all the sectors, increase the cost of production, reduce exports and tax collection and fan agitation.

He noted that the former government had settled this debt in 2013 and claimed that this will never resurface again. The negative politics of those who falsely claimed to bury the debt forever has been buried by the masses in the recent election.

He said that the all details of the debt is not in the knowledge of the public which if lime lighted will shock the people.

The business leader said that policy to handle the issue must be changed; strict accountability should be initiated while the areas where energy theft is rampant should face more loadshedding.

The localities paying their bills regularly should get relief from the loadshedding, he demanded.

Published in Daily Times, August 22^nd 2018.