ISLAMABAD, March 29: All the four provinces have demanded of the government to write off their huge debt in order to help them run their financial affairs adequately.
Finance ministers of Punjab, Sindh, the NWFP and a senior representative of Balochistan, along with their secretaries, met here on Friday and discussed the issue of debt in detail.
They demanded of the government to write off their formidable loans, as they were becoming unmanageable, specially due to their high interest rates, sources said.
The finance ministers also contacted President Gen Pervez Musharraf through his senior aides and informed him about what was termed “their intimidating debt problems”.
The President directed Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz to listen to provinces’ point of view and help reduce their debt. But, the ministers could not meet Mr Aziz on Friday, who was in Karachi in connection with his other engagements, including to meet the officials of the State Bank of Pakistan.
The sources said the finance minister would soon be inviting all the four finance ministers and their secretaries to Islamabad to discuss the issue.
Sindh Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh, when contacted, confirmed to Dawn that they were gathered in Islamabad to voice their financial problems, especially their huge debt burdens.
He said that since the federal government was receiving foreign assistance and grants, it should also share it with the provinces to help resolve their monetary problems.
“The provinces need a debt relief from the federal government”, Dr Hafeez Sheikh said, as the interest rate of provincial debts was very high.
For example, he pointed out, Sindh had received Rs52 billion loans todate, and during this period it repaid Rs82 billion. However, this repayment comprised Rs72 billion interest and Rs10 billion principal amount. “So the situation today is that, although we have paid a staggering amount of Rs82 billion, we are still left with a debt burden of Rs42 billion to the centre”, he lamented. Punjab and other provinces were facing the same problems, he added. Punjab’s debt is said to have reached to Rs116 billion.
The provinces, the sources said, were also demanding from the centre to make new resource distribution through the National Finance Commission award on the basis of population, fiscal efforts, revenue generation and backwardness.
The finance ministers of three provinces and a senior representative of Balochistan are still here, and may meet some senior federal authorities on Saturday, including those sitting in the Chief Executive Office.
