PESHAWAR, May 3: The Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) is making irregular payments to the cash-strapped NWFP government of its share of net hydel profit, officials say.

They said Wapda was required to release Rs4.5 billion by the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal year, but it had transferred only Rs3 billion to the provincial government by March.

They said the delay in the payment was causing imbalance and affecting the financial management of the province, which was heavily dependent on receipts transferred by the federal government.

They said the provincial government had been asking Wapda to release Rs500 million monthly instalments, whereas the authority was insisting on quarterly payments of Rs1.5 billion.

“Wapda is not even paying the amount on a quarterly basis. In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, the province did not receive any payment, while Rs3 billion was released in two instalments in the second and third quarters,” the officials said.

According to the officials, the NWFP government would sustain a deficit of Rs2 billion by the end of the year as Wapda was still making payment on the basis of capped amount of Rs6 billion as it had done in the past two years.

The provincial government had projected net hydel profit revenue receipts at Rs8 billion in the current budget.