IMF pressure spurs prompt actions in gas sector

Amid the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) persistence for retrospective gas price adjustments to curb runaway circular debt, the caretaker government has to take a series of immediate steps. These steps include increasing cash payments to urban recipients of the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP), allocating funds for winter gas in Balochistan, and making cash and non-cash book adjustments to settle inter-corporate payables and receivables among energy entities. In addition, the government will need to initiate long-term structural changes, like the separation of transmission network from the two existing Sui gas companies, moving towards weighted average cost of local gas and imported LNG and enhanced production of oil and gas molecules. Informed sources told Dawn that Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra) and the ministries of finance and energy along with representatives from Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) remained engaged on pricing mechanism and restructuring of payables and receivables of the energy sector entities and would continue consultations on Tuesday as well.