ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on state-owned enterprises on Thursday rejected a request from two circular debt-hit state-owned gas utilities — Sui Southern and Sui Northern — for exemption from international accounting and financial reporting standards to avoid being declared insolvent. However, the cabinet committee, headed by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, “instructed the Petroleum Division to undertake further deliberations with the Finance Division and the Law and Justice Division and submit a revised proposal for consideration”, according to an official statement. The Petroleum Division had sought exemption for specified energy-sector state-owned enterprises (SOEs) from the applicability of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS-14 and IFRS-9), the statement added. Informed sources said a similar three-year exemption had already been availed of by these entities. The finance minister reportedly observed that such an exemption could not be allowed while the SOEs Act 2023 remained in place. He therefore directed that the matter, being of a serious nature, be deliberated upon at length, given the strong opposition from the Finance Ministry’s Central Monitoring Unit (CMU), which monitors all SOEs under the requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Published: July 9, 2026 3:42 pm
Source: Dawn — Read original