Pakistan Railways decided to recuperate losses incurred because of preceding mismanagement and the recent floods through its resources, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said.
“We have estimated an Rs525 billion loss to Pakistan Railways during the recent floods, which has almost stagnated routine life in Sindh and Balochistan,” the minister told the media in a press conference.
During the floods in Sindh and Balochistan, railway infrastructure including bridges and tracks was badly destroyed. Railway services remained suspended for weeks which further affected its revenue stream.
“We incurred a loss of millions of rupees daily due to a halt in train operations. We have just restarted our operations and are hopeful to expand with each passing day,” Rafique added.
As the management was looking for ways to narrow down the deficit and adjust for inflationary pressures, the recent floods put an additional burden of loss on the cash-strapped railway.
“The surge in dollar prices in the recent months has disturbed the balance of payments. Apart from exchange rate fluctuations, the increase in diesel prices is likely to add to our oil bill. The railways’ oil bill for the year 2021-22 was Rs20 billion and if oil prices do not come down, then we are expecting the bill to hit nearly Rs36 billion this fiscal year,” Rafique forewarned adding, “Considering all such things, the ongoing inflationary pressure is not bearable,” the minister said.
“Another dangerous situation for us is the backlog of payments. We have just cleared the payments of retired personnel for the year 2020-21 and have now moved onto the year 2021-22,” noted the minister.
Khawaja Rafique further underscored, “One possible way for us is to ask for money from the federal government but, unfortunately, they are also facing a tight fiscal situation and we do not want them to take another loan and pass it on to railways.”
“What we have decided is to fight and try recovering through our own resources. This is not an easy task, as we are facing a dangerous situation but we will start with cost-cutting measures and will try to increase our revenue,” the minister maintained.