Pakistan to settle circular debt

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet decided that the circular debt would be resolved before August 10 by settling Rs326 billion before June 30. The committee noted in a statement after a meeting that the settlement would provide much needed liquidity to the power sector, increase fuel availability, solve several disputes that have led to closure of more than 1000 MW of capacity and consequently augment the power generation. Ministers for water and power, petroleum and natural resources, planning and development, food security, science and technology and minister of state for IT also attended the meeting to present a number of summaries. ECC considered the proposal for settlement of total Rs503 billion outstanding circular debts in the power sector on a summary moved by the ministry of water and power. A summary for issuance of government guarantee for the additional cost of Rs23 billion for Nandipur Power Project due to negligent delays was also considered by the ECC. Minister for Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, chaired the first meeting of the ECC by approving Rs2 billion Ramzan Package for availability of major kitchen items on reduced prices from more than 4,000 utility stores. The Pakistani rupee equals 0.0029 Kuwaiti dinars and its rate vis a vis the US dollar stands at (USD) 0.010.