Laos: EDL amasses huge debt due to unpaid bills, investment outlay

Laos: EDL amasses huge debt due to unpaid bills, investment outlay

Unpaid electricity fees, notably owed by state organisations, have
accumulated into a large debt to be paid to Electricite Du Laos (EDL), a
minister told the recent National Assembly session.

Minister of Energy and Mines Dr Khammany Inthilath gave the information when
responding to questions raised by Assembly members about why EDL had
incurred such a large debt.

The minister said there were two forms of debt - the money owed by consumers
to EDL, and the money that EDL had borrowed for its investment needs.

He admitted that the enterprise was suffering from chronic debt partly
because many state organisations had not paid their electricity bills on
time.

Statistics from the enterprise show that the money owed on unpaid
electricity bills has reached as much as 1,217 billion kip. Of this, 326
billion kip is owed by state entities, including 149 billion kip owed by the
operators of irrigation systems. The rest of the money can be attributed to
outstanding payments by households and businesses.

A senior official at EDL told Vientiane Times yesterday the money owed by
households and businesses were short term debts, saying that these consumers
regularly pay their bills within appropriate time.

The problem was the huge debt owed by state departments, which had
accumulated since fiscal year 2014-15 fiscal year.

Dr Khammany called for state agencies to attach more importance to the
payment of electricity bills.

He told parliament his ministry was working with the Ministry of Agriculture
and Forestry to look at ways to address the chronic debt on the part of
irrigation system operators.

The minister said the massive debt owed to EDL by state departments would be
addressed gradually, adding that the government was intensifying its
austerity measures which require all state departments to use resources
economically.

In addition to the chronic outstanding payments, EDL itself owes a large sum
to its creditors after borrowing money for investment purposes.

Statistics show that EDL has a total debt of 7,291.6 billion kip that it
must pay, including the longer term debt.

EDL's Deputy Managing Director, Mr Komonchanh Phet-Asa, told Vientiane Times
yesterday the enterprise was in debt because of the huge sums of money it
had borrowed for its investment needs.

These include paying for expansion of the electricity network into more
rural communities as well as expansion of the national power grid.

Money has also been borrowed to invest in the development of new hydropower
plants, according to EDL.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.vientianetimes.org.la/FreeContent/FreeConten_EDL.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com