Rs53bn Railways deficit estimated for 2011-12

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Railways (PR) has estimated a deficit of around Rs53 billion for the fiscal year 2011-12 against an expected earning of Rs12 billion.

The Chairman of National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways Sardar Ayyaz Sadiq told media persons after presiding over a meeting at Parliament House here that the Railways had prepared a deficit budget for 2011-12.

The deficit would be over Rs53 billion, with earnings estimated at Rs12 billion against an expenditure of Rs65 billion.

He said the Pakistan Railways (PR) had demanded Rs53 billion bailout package last year, but the federal cabinet only allowed Rs13.6 billion, which was revised to Rs4.8 billion. However, only Rs2.8 billion had been provided by the government which was insufficient for efficient operations.

Detailing the deficit and the expenditure, Sadiq said the PR needed more than Rs15 billion under the head of salaries, around Rs14 billion for pension payment, Rs18 billion for fuel and Rs19 billion for stores.

He said the government had asked the Pakistan Railways to generate Rs20 billion revenue through its own resources while it would give Rs25 billion to it.

Sadiq said that the debt servicing of Pakistan Railways was Rs11.8 billion for the year 2008-09, Rs10.3 billion for 2009-10 and Rs17 billion for 2010-11.

He said the total expenditure of Railways was Rs23 billion during 2008-09, Rs22 billion during the 2009-10. However, in 2010-11 Railways survived Rs33 billion losses, he added.

The parliamentarian said that the government should have to take pragmatic measures to bring Pakistan Railways out of crises, adding that the out of order locomotives should immediately be repaired and a transparent mechanism should be adopted for purchase of new 150 locomotives.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011