KARACHI, April 29: Irrespective of towering circular debt and freezing of accounts the Pakistan State Oil (PSO) has kept its import plans of various oil products intact for May.

An official of the PSO said if all goes well the company has planned to import two vessels of Jet Fuel each with a capacity of 18,000 tons, two vessels of LSFO each with a capacity of 60,000 tons, eight vessels of HSFO each with a capacity of 65,000 tons and two vessels of petrol each with a capacity of 35,000 tons for May.

He said with accounts still frozen the PSO has to retire a letter of credit on Monday. Retiring an LC means that paying the international supplier for a consignment.

Despite severe financial constraints, PSO struggles to live up to its commitment to ensure uninterrupted supplies to the entire country, especially the power sector that includes Hubco, Kapco, Wapda, Gencos and various other IPP’s.

However, the power sector owes PSO about Rs160 billion. Hubco owes PSO Rs85 billion, while Kapco and Wapda owe Rs38 billion and Rs28 billion, respectively.

Other than the current accumulated receivables, the imports required for the peak energy usage months from May to August would require the further import of products worth over Rs200 billion. This amount is expected to be further accumulated to the already grim receivables position of the company.

The official said due to astounding receivables the company is facing prob-lems to arrange products to meet daunting energy needs.

The power sector while making hue and cry for uninterrupted supplies should also clear the accumulated amounts pending towards PSO, the official suggested.

With total receivables hovering over Rs170 billion, the financial situation of PSO has become extremely precarious resulting into a default on its tax obligations.

It has been unable to make payment of Rs7.7 billion on account of sales and income tax to the FBR resulting in notices being issued to the banks by Large Taxpayer Unit for freezing of the company’s accounts.

The official said the local refineries have stopped fuel supplies to PSO due to outstanding payments of about Rs100 billion resulting in heavy reliance of the company on imports.

The company owes about Rs49 billion to the international fuel suppliers and has to meet this commitment.

The company has been requesting the concerned authorities for a minimum payment of Rs60 billion to fulfill its tax liabilities as well as local and international commitments but to no avail.