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The Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA) has urged the government to ensure the immediate payment of Rs6.5 billion owed by the Utility Stores Corporation (USC) to ghee and cooking oil manufacturers.

According to the association, the dues have been pending for over a year despite repeated reminders, causing financial strain for the industry.

In a statement, PVMA Chairman Sheikh Umer Rehan said that ghee and cooking oil mills across the country had already supplied products worth Rs6.5 billion to USC, but the non-payment of dues created a serious liquidity crisis for the manufacturers.

“Industrialists are facing capital shortages in meeting operational expenses and the import of raw materials, disrupting production processes,” he said and cautioned that if the issue was not resolved promptly, the sustainability of the entire industry could be at risk.

The association chairman emphasised that the issue was not only an industrial concern but also the one that would affect the credibility of the government. He noted that the association had been raising the matter with the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Industries and the Ministry of Commerce for the past one year, yet no practical action had been taken. “The continued delay in payments has eroded business confidence and fueled uncertainty in the economy,” he added.

Umer Rehan appealed to Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Adviser to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan to take personal notice of the issue, initiate an inquiry and ensure swift disbursement of the outstanding amount.

He stressed that the ghee and cooking oil industry plays a vital role in ensuring the country’s food security and employment continuity, adding that it was the government’s responsibility to make timely payments to support the sector’s stability and contribution to economic growth.

“The reason we have an office here is to be close to our investors,” Yao said in an interview with the Post on Thursday. “We have very important insurance companies that have already committed to our various products. To be close to clients is one thing we want to develop in Hong Kong.”

“Private wealth is also a big topic in our industry as a source of capital. Investment-wise it is very important for the secondary business,” Yao added. “So we have a lot of sellers here and we have most of the intermediaries, the investment bank side, also here. It’s also very critical for us to further expand our secondary business in the region.”

It has about 50 long-standing clients in the Greater China region. Its investors include insurance firms, sovereign wealth funds, private wealth investors and endowments.

Japan’s bond market heads into a sale of policy-sensitive two-year notes Friday on a somewhat stronger footing on speculation the Bank of Japan isn’t rushing into the next rate increase.

The auction comes 24 hours after the BOJ’s first policy decision Thursday under a new government led by Sanae Takaichi, who’s seen as an advocate of relatively low rates. Governor Kazuo Ueda gave few hints about the next rate hike after the BOJ stood pat on policy, saying that the central bank isn’t falling behind the curve in the fight against inflation.