Circular debt of Rs 85 bn cleared

[LahoreEstate]

Monday, September 21, 2009
ISLAMABAD: The government has paid back the circular debt of Rs 85 billion while the remaining Rs 12-15 billion would be paid back in the next couple of weeks, resolving a longstanding issue of the energy sector.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, who met Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani at the PM House, briefed him on the overall economic situation of the country. The PM was informed that during the last one month, inflation had come down by half per cent while the current account deficit in August was surplus as against the deficit of $2 billion in August 2008.

Record remittances of $780 million were received during the last month. He said the Stock Exchange had responded positively because of the economic results and the KSE 100 Index was close to 9,500.

He said the Forex reserves bounced back to $14.4 billion, rising from $6.6 billion in October last year. Tarin also briefed the PM about his upcoming visits to New York and Istanbul for the IMF and the World Bank meetings. Gilani directed Tarin to review the performance of some public sector organisations.

http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=199556