Due debts of govt, semi-govt, local govt bodies hit Tk 727 billion
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
S M Jahangir
The outstanding debts of government, semi-government and autonomous bodies have swelled to Tk 726.94 billion mainly due to their poor response to an ongoing official recovery drive, finance ministry officials said.
"The overall liability of servicing debts by state-owned, semi-government and local government bodies continued to rise following their poor repayment performance," a senior official of the ministry told the FE.
According to the ministry officials, non-payment of such huge amount of arrears debts, especially by big defaulters, has put the government's current expenditures under pressure.
Taking their poor payment performance into account, the Debt Service Liability (DSL) wing under the finance ministry has already asked the agencies concerned to service their outstanding debts accordingly to help the government beef up its resources, an official mentioned.
Earlier, the debt service wing had already sat with all the big defaulters individually or separately in this connection, the official added.
"Although we have asked the respective agencies to clear their outstanding debts, their response to this effect is very poor," the official said.
Of the total arrears debt, some state organisations paid just around Tk 12 billion in the fiscal year 2008-09, officials said, adding the similar amount is expected to be recovered this fiscal also.
Official figures revealed that the concerned agencies paid around Tk 73.28 billion until June last, which was nearly 13 per cent of their outstanding debts.
DSL wing has set a target of realising debts amounting to at least Tk 15 billion for the current fiscal, said officials.
They, however, attributed such non-payment of outstanding debts by many of the SOEs to their poor financial conditions.
Referring to the figures compiled by the DSL wing, the officials said Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) topped the list of debt defaulters with the total liability of Tk 339 billion, followed by Petrobangla with Tk 89.65 billion, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) with Tk 60 billion and Rural Electrification Board (REB) with Tk 40 billion.
Among other major defaulters, Dhaka Power Distribution Compnay (DPDC) is liable to pay Tk 27.62 billion, Bangladesh Bridge Authority Tk 23.76 billion, Dhaka WASA Tk 20 billion, Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) Tk 14.65 billion, Palli Karmo Shahayok Foundation (PKSF) Tk 14.55 billion and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Tk 13.20 billion.
The outstanding debts of government, semi-government and autonomous bodies have swelled to Tk 726.94 billion mainly due to their poor response to an ongoing official recovery drive, finance ministry officials said.
"The overall liability of servicing debts by state-owned, semi-government and local government bodies continued to rise following their poor repayment performance," a senior official of the ministry told the FE.
According to the ministry officials, non-payment of such huge amount of arrears debts, especially by big defaulters, has put the government's current expenditures under pressure.
Taking their poor payment performance into account, the Debt Service Liability (DSL) wing under the finance ministry has already asked the agencies concerned to service their outstanding debts accordingly to help the government beef up its resources, an official mentioned.
Earlier, the debt service wing had already sat with all the big defaulters individually or separately in this connection, the official added.
"Although we have asked the respective agencies to clear their outstanding debts, their response to this effect is very poor," the official said.
Of the total arrears debt, some state organisations paid just around Tk 12 billion in the fiscal year 2008-09, officials said, adding the similar amount is expected to be recovered this fiscal also.
Official figures revealed that the concerned agencies paid around Tk 73.28 billion until June last, which was nearly 13 per cent of their outstanding debts.
DSL wing has set a target of realising debts amounting to at least Tk 15 billion for the current fiscal, said officials.
They, however, attributed such non-payment of outstanding debts by many of the SOEs to their poor financial conditions.
Referring to the figures compiled by the DSL wing, the officials said Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) topped the list of debt defaulters with the total liability of Tk 339 billion, followed by Petrobangla with Tk 89.65 billion, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) with Tk 60 billion and Rural Electrification Board (REB) with Tk 40 billion.
Among other major defaulters, Dhaka Power Distribution Compnay (DPDC) is liable to pay Tk 27.62 billion, Bangladesh Bridge Authority Tk 23.76 billion, Dhaka WASA Tk 20 billion, Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation (BSEC) Tk 14.65 billion, Palli Karmo Shahayok Foundation (PKSF) Tk 14.55 billion and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Tk 13.20 billion.