Business Recorder op-ed writer Farhat Ali has ably presented the history of circular debt in the country. The facts cited by him in this regard constitute a sardonic comment on the state of governance of successive governments. The PPP government of Asif Zardari is said to have inherited a circular debt of only Rs 108 billion. The PML government started its tenure in May 2013 with a circular debt of around Rs 500 billion, which means that the PPP government had added Rs 400 billion to circular debt.

The incumbent PTI government has inherited a circular debt of Rs 1.1 trillion. As of today, circular debt is said to be standing around Rs 1.4 trillion. Both PPP and PML-N governments had failed to rein in the menace of circular debt. Unfortunately, however, the present government appears to be no different from its predecessors in this regard.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019