Making an addition to the loss making state-owned entities, the government on Friday officially confirmed that two major financial institutions — House Building Finance Corporation Limited (HBFCL) and Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) — were also in the red and unable to clear even their interest liabilities.
This was announced after a meeting between Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and State Bank of Pakistan Governor Ashraf Wathra on Friday. This was the second meeting in almost a week for the resolution of SBP credit line issue with HBFCL and ZTBL.
“The finance minister and all the three major stakeholders including the SBP, ZTBL and HBFC unanimously decided to convert their loans into equity at par and for immediate payment of interest by HBFC to SBP,” an official statement said.
The SBP chief informed the finance minister that HBFCL owed Rs13.2 billion since 2006. The institution has not been able to clear its overdue credit line, he added.
More alarmingly, it was revealed that ZTBL owed Rs93.2bn (principal Rs.54.5bn, mark up 38.7bn) to the SBP and for the last 15 years, the credit line had not been cleared. Poor balance sheet of ZTBL had hampered its progress and financial standings, the meeting was informed.
