THE PML-N came to power on the basis of a promise made to the people that if elected, it would resolve the energy crisis. That has not happened yet. It is not likely to happen until the circular debt issue is resolved permanently.

I believe the circular debt is a serious bottleneck in the operation cycle of energy production and distribution. The government has not shared with the public the information regarding the latest stock and status of the circular debt.

Electricity producers cannot produce electricity regularly and efficiently unless their debt is cleared by the purchasers, which are the country’s power distribution companies.

The power companies cannot pay electricity producers because the former’s bulk customers do not pay regularly in time for the electricity consumed. Thus it has become a vicious circle. It is the responsibility of the government to fix the problem by removing the bottlenecks wherever they exist in this business operation cycle.

In any business operation, generally speaking, the terms of trade debt range from 30 days to maximum 120 days. It is surprising that two-and-a-half years have passed since the present government, soon after coming to power in June 2013, paid off the circular debt amounting Rs482bn and to this date the people do not know what happened to the recovery of that circular debt.

I have high regard for Finance Minister Ishaq Dar for his positive contribution so far to the country’s economy, but as custodian of the country’s finance, it his duty to inform the people about the recovery status of that circular debt which was paid from the national wealth about 900 days ago.

Ejaz Ahmad Magoon
Lahore

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2015