ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) owes Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Rs6 billion as federal excise duty deducted from employees’ salaries.
This was revealed by FBR Chairman Tariq Mehmood Pasha in a meeting of Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet.
Aviation Division revealed that PIACL was going through a difficult period due to continuous losses and severe cash flow crises, hampering operations. Various suppliers have stopped supplies to PIA due to non-payments. The situation needs immediate redressal otherwise it could result in disruption of operations and services. PIACL has submitted its funds requirements for the period July – December 2017 as follows: (i) GoP guaranteed loan installments, Rs 17.017 billion; (ii) non-GoP guaranteed loan installments, Rs 7.132 billion; and (iii) mark up payments, Rs 6.113 billion. The grand total is Rs 30.262 billion
Aviation Division further stated that PIACL would endeavor to pay the Non-GoP guaranteed principal installments totaling PKR 7.132 billion from its own resources. The GoP guaranteed principal installments totaling PKR 17.017 billion would be settled through roll-over of guarantees with the assistance of Ministry of Finance. However PIACL would need support for the mark-up payments totaling PKR 6.113 billion.
The status of GoP guarantee limit assigned by ECC to PIACL as on 30th April, 2017 is as follows: (i) guaranteed limit assigned by ECC, Rs 161.50 billion; and (ii) GoP guarantees outstanding, Rs 161.50 billion. Aviation Division apprised that during a recent meeting with Prime Minister, PIACL requested support of the Government towards following Capital expenditure: (i) engineering projects, Rs 2.00 billion; and (ii) ground support, Rs 1.00 billion.
