{"id":2273,"date":"2026-05-26T07:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=2273"},"modified":"2026-05-26T07:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T07:37:24","slug":"pakistans-combined-power-and-gas-circular-debt-reaches-rs5100-billion-finance-committee-told","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/?p=2273","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan\u2019s Combined Power and Gas Circular Debt Reaches Rs5,100 Billion, Finance Committee Told"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Islamabad:<\/strong> Pakistan\u2019s combined circular debt in the electricity and gas sectors has surged to approximately Rs5,100 billion<\/strong>, according to revelations made during a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials informed the committee that the circular debt burden has increased sharply from around Rs3,500 billion<\/strong> recorded last year, highlighting the continuing financial crisis in Pakistan\u2019s energy sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the meeting, lawmakers reviewed Pakistan\u2019s overall economic situation and fiscal priorities for the upcoming financial year 2026-27. The discussion focused on emerging economic risks, the performance of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) program, and the urgent need for structural reforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee was briefed that despite signs of gradual economic recovery, Pakistan still remains on what officials described as a path of \u201cfragile stabilization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the briefing, the country\u2019s GDP growth rate for fiscal year 2026-27 is projected to remain between 3.5 percent and 4.5 percent<\/strong>, reflecting moderate economic improvement after a prolonged period of financial stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, inflation has once again entered double digits, with annual inflation reaching 10.9 percent in April 2026<\/strong>, adding further pressure on households, businesses, and the broader economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee was also informed that Pakistan\u2019s total external debt currently stands at approximately $137.56 billion<\/strong>, underlining the country\u2019s continued dependence on foreign borrowing and international financial support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Members of the standing committee expressed serious concern over the government\u2019s continued reliance on indirect taxation and petroleum levies instead of broadening the national tax base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lawmakers argued that excessive dependence on indirect taxes disproportionately affects ordinary citizens by increasing the cost of fuel, transportation, electricity, and essential goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chairman of the committee also voiced concern regarding the rapidly increasing circular debt burden, slow progress in reforming state-owned enterprises, and the rising socio-economic pressures caused by inflation, unemployment, and poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Experts have long warned that Pakistan\u2019s circular debt problem has become one of the country\u2019s most serious economic challenges. Circular debt accumulates when power producers, gas companies, distribution firms, and government entities fail to fully recover costs due to subsidies, transmission losses, inefficiencies, delayed payments, and theft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy sector crisis continues to strain public finances and negatively affect economic growth, industrial productivity, and investor confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts say the increase from Rs3,500 billion to Rs5,100 billion within a year reflects deep structural weaknesses in both the electricity and gas sectors. Without major reforms, experts warn the debt burden could continue growing and further destabilize the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The IMF and other international financial institutions have repeatedly urged Pakistan to implement reforms in energy pricing, tax collection, governance of state-owned enterprises, and subsidy management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials during the committee meeting reportedly acknowledged that while some economic indicators have shown improvement, the country remains vulnerable to external shocks, rising import costs, and domestic fiscal pressures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economists believe controlling inflation and reducing circular debt will remain among the government\u2019s biggest challenges in the upcoming budget and fiscal year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The committee emphasized the need for comprehensive reforms aimed at increasing revenue collection, reducing inefficiencies, improving governance, and protecting lower-income groups from the effects of inflation and economic instability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observers note that the growing circular debt crisis not only threatens fiscal stability but also affects the reliability and affordability of electricity and gas supplies for consumers and industries across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The upcoming federal budget is expected to include measures targeting energy sector reforms, expenditure management, and revenue generation as the government seeks to stabilize the economy while meeting IMF-related commitments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Islamabad: Pakistan\u2019s combined circular debt in the electricity and gas sectors has surged to approximately Rs5,100 billion, according to revelations made during a meeting of..<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/434741_1799485_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/434741_1799485_updates-1-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/434741_1799485_updates-1-300x171.jpg",300,171,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/434741_1799485_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"large":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/434741_1799485_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/434741_1799485_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/paksouch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/434741_1799485_updates-1.jpg",700,400,false]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Pakistan<\/a>","tag_info":"Pakistan","comment_count":"0","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2273"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2275,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2273\/revisions\/2275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paksouch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}