Punjab government has withheld the cheques for the payment of employees’ salaries to show that funds remain in its accounts at the end of the current financial year. According to private television channels, Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif gave the approval for the unusual step, as a result of which, the Punjab government’s accounts in the State Bank of Pakistan will show Rs 11 billion as the surplus amount at the end of the fiscal year 2012. In a summary Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif directed the provincial and district governments not to cash any cheque for the salaries of their employees for the month of June. The step will reflect the budget deficit of the Punjab government as less than the actual figure. According to official documents, Punjab is facing a deficit of Rs 35 billion in the consolidated accounts of the provincial government. According to the rules of the finance department, all the cheques must be drawn before the end of the fiscal year; otherwise the cheques will have go to waste. The finance department sources said the practice of delaying the payments of government employees’ salaries to conceal the actual figures is continuing for the last two years in Punjab.
