Govt agencies meet today to settle BPC's arrears
Sunday, 30 December 2007
S M Jahangir
The interim government is considering adjustment of the outstanding fuel-oil bills of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) with the duty the corporation owes to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on account of petroleum imports.
Now defunct Bangladesh Biman Corporation owes the BPC - the state-run petroleum marketing entity - more than Tk 17 billion for purchasing fuel on deferred payments.
The relevant government agencies will meet today (Monday) to discuss the settle ment process of the long-standing arrear fuel bills, official sources said.
"Ministries of finance and energy, NBR, BPC and the Biman will sit Monday to reach a decision regarding the settlement of the outstanding bills," said a senior Energy Division official.
The official, however, indicated that the process of adjusting the arrear bills with import duties was under active consideration of the government.
"A decision on adjustment of the outstanding bills is expected to be finalised at Monday's meeting," the official said.
The official further said the government has made the move to settle the arrears bills in order to help the fund-starved BPC get rid of its huge debt liabilities.
The government recently turned the Biman into a public limited company as 'Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited (BBAL)' to make the national airline operationally sound and commercially viable without settling its huge liabilities.
The Biman could not pay its dues to the BPC mainly because of its financial constraint, caused due to sustained operating losses. Official figures suggested that it had incurred a loss to the tune of Tk 12 billion in fiscal year 2006-07 alone.
The non-settlement of such a big amount of dues by the Biman had caused immense fund crisis for the state-owned BPC, especially in payment of import bills.
Apart from the non-payment of dues by the Biman, the BPC has been incurring huge losses in recent years on account of marketing petroleum at prices significantly lower than the import costs.
In this backdrop, the BPC's liability with the banking system - both local and foreign ones - continued to rise over the years, sources said.
The interim government is considering adjustment of the outstanding fuel-oil bills of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) with the duty the corporation owes to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) on account of petroleum imports.
Now defunct Bangladesh Biman Corporation owes the BPC - the state-run petroleum marketing entity - more than Tk 17 billion for purchasing fuel on deferred payments.
The relevant government agencies will meet today (Monday) to discuss the settle ment process of the long-standing arrear fuel bills, official sources said.
"Ministries of finance and energy, NBR, BPC and the Biman will sit Monday to reach a decision regarding the settlement of the outstanding bills," said a senior Energy Division official.
The official, however, indicated that the process of adjusting the arrear bills with import duties was under active consideration of the government.
"A decision on adjustment of the outstanding bills is expected to be finalised at Monday's meeting," the official said.
The official further said the government has made the move to settle the arrears bills in order to help the fund-starved BPC get rid of its huge debt liabilities.
The government recently turned the Biman into a public limited company as 'Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited (BBAL)' to make the national airline operationally sound and commercially viable without settling its huge liabilities.
The Biman could not pay its dues to the BPC mainly because of its financial constraint, caused due to sustained operating losses. Official figures suggested that it had incurred a loss to the tune of Tk 12 billion in fiscal year 2006-07 alone.
The non-settlement of such a big amount of dues by the Biman had caused immense fund crisis for the state-owned BPC, especially in payment of import bills.
Apart from the non-payment of dues by the Biman, the BPC has been incurring huge losses in recent years on account of marketing petroleum at prices significantly lower than the import costs.
In this backdrop, the BPC's liability with the banking system - both local and foreign ones - continued to rise over the years, sources said.