Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) is not in a position to settle its debt service liability (DSL) of Tk 11.37 billion with the government due to rising operational costs of the state entity.
Sources said the BRTC took out a loan from the government five decades ago. The accumulated amount has now stood at Tk 11.37 billion with interest.
The state corporation recently sent a letter to Finance Division, citing that it was not possible to make payment of such liability.
But it assured that the DSL of any future loan would be repaid ahead of schedule if new vehicles are added to the BRTC fleet given the current trend of its capacity.
Earlier, only Tk 1.2 million was paid per year as DSL payment due to poor financial management of the organisation.
Some Tk 12 million, Tk 15 million and Tk 20 million as DSL paid in fiscal years 2021-22, 2023-24 and 2024-25 respectively without any financial help from the government.
Before 2021, it was not possible to pay gratuity, salary allowance, car repair and road tax and fitness fee to retired officers and employees without the cooperation of finance ministry, the letter mentioned.
Currently, the state entity has provided Tk 933.1 million, including past previous due gratuity, CPF, leave encashment, salaries, allowances and other dues.
Even with new vehicles in the fleet, it would not have been possible to pay the monthly salary and allowance of Tk 63 million to officials before 2021.
To avoid the pressure of increased salaries and allowances, pay fixation was not done as per 2009 and 2015 pay scales.
Currently, as pay has been fixed, recruitment of manpower in vacant posts, regularisation, promotions, salaries and allowances have almost doubled.
No new vehicles were added to the fleet after 2021. At present, Tk 120 million is being provided with salaries and allowances through online banking on the first working day of every month-even an old car fleet.
Due to an increase in revenue and its overall capacity, the BRTC says, it is now possible to provide monthly salary and other financial benefits on a regular basis.
It is unlikely that the amount of allowances will increase significantly in the future.
The BRTC said that it would be possible to raise the amount of DSL instalments.
However, it will not be possible to pay a total amount of Tk 11.37 billion.
Sources at the DSL wing of the finance division said it made a move to realise outstanding loans but mostly fell flat and the dues were getting bloated.
They said individual organisations were contacted for loan recovery.
"We want to streamline the official debt-repayment process as it puts the government in a difficult situation to manage the current expenditure," a senior official at the wing told the FE.
Staggering loans pending with state-owned enterprises (SoEs) have been causing problems for the government to strike a balance between available resources and current expenditure and also retarding development work, he added.
Sources said many new sectors in need of loans hardly get the same from the government since most SoEs are not making repayments as per loan agreements.
The finance division has reckoned and readied the latest figures up to June 2024 to disclosing the information during the presentation of the national budget by the finance minister next June.