With the Sindh government expected to present its fiscal year 2011-12 budget in the first week of June, preparations in this regard have entered the final phase. A meeting was held on Saturday to discuss the financial position of the province during the current financial year (2010-2011) with a detailed review of the expenditure in various sectors. The meeting, presided over by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, was also attended by Sindh Finance Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Adviser to Chief Minister on Planning and Development (P&D) Kaiser Bengali, Additional Chief Secretary (P&D) Ishaque Lashari and Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch among others.
According to an official handout, the overall performance of the departments and the total amount allocated and spent by the departments so far were also discussed at the meeting. The proposed funding in various sectors and allocation of amount under different heads for the next financial year 2011-2012 and various other budget proposals were also discussed in detail. Recently, Finance Secretary Baloch had told a Public Accounts Committee meeting that due to the critical financial position of the province, the Annual Development Programme (ADP) could be severely affected in the new fiscal budget. “Sindh’s current financial position is critical. T
he size of ADP in the new fiscal budget will depend on available funds,” Baloch had said. He had maintained that the critical situation had arisen mainly due to three reasons: last year’s devastating floods; release of lesser funds than the due share from the Centre; and unsatisfactory tax recovery during the current financial year. “The province had to divert around Rs 18 to 20 billion from different heads to flood-hit areas during the current fiscal year for relief and rehabilitation of the flood survivors,” he had said. Because of the current financial position, he added, the province would have to approve the new fiscal year’s developmental schemes as per the availability of funds.
According to Baloch, the province was also facing financial problems on different accounts, including over billing of electricity charges to government bodies by power utilities WAPDA, HESCO and KESC.