Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P)’s Minister for Finance Muzaffar Said and Secretary Finance Syed Badshah Bukhari have claimed the province had utilized over 93% of the annual developmental programme (ADP) by the end of this month.
Muzaffar first read the silent features of the fiscal budget for the next year that he presented at the K-P assembly. He said that the total volume of the new budget is Rs487.884 billion and the amount is 21% more than the outgoing year. He added that in current year (2014-15) tax targets from the federal government were Rs53 billion less than the expectations K-P government.
For the next year, the estimated provincial tax receipts of Rs55billion are 86% more than the outgoing year, he remarked. He further added that the estimate includes revenue generation of about Rs14 billion from the housing sector and Rs8 billion from the environment and forestry department.
“The government cut down the funds allocated for the ministers and parliamentarians. Instead, the developmental projects would get funds in every constituency without any prejudice, said the minister.
“It’s the policy of the present government that funds are given to development schemes instead of doling out money to parliamentarians.” Bukhari said.
Regarding the tax rates’ increase the minister said the province would get Rs270 million for the next fiscal year, which makes up a small portion of the total tax receipts that the province is expecting.
The government has not announced any mega project for the provincial capital in the developmental schemes. However, Rs1 billion have been allocated for the uplift of Peshawar and its surrounding areas along with Rs1 billion for water supply and sanitation of the city. The budget also set aside funds for an elevated U-turn for the traffic management in the provincial capital.
The total volume of debts owed by the province stand at Rs121 billion out of which about Rs5 billion are owed to the federal government and about Rs116 billion to foreign lenders.
“We are proud that the loans taken by K-P are less than the any other province,” said the secretary. He added that the loans being taken are fixed on standard mark set by the donor and their mark-up is less than the loans taken in 1990s. The provincial government has decreased allocations which are to be paid for the mark-up on these loans and a total Rs7.20 billion have been kept aside for it.
The government has imposed a complete ban over travelling abroad of parliamentarians and officials for medical treatment. Similarly, a ban has also been introduced on purchase of vehicles by the provincial government, although the chief minister has the prerogative to give relaxation in case of need.
The budget is also dependent on Rs68 billion owed by the federal government in net profit from the hydel generation in K-P. It is likely that the province may not get the expected amount and it will lead to an increase in the budget deficit. The secretary was hopeful that the issue would be fixed by the end of the year and said, “The provincial government has held 4-5 meetings with the federal government and the federal government has assured that it will provide the arrears and uncap the NHP. We were assured that the issue would be solved this year.”
A question regarding the preparation of this budget in Bani Gala also came in the briefing to which the minister responded in negative. “Imran Khan, being the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, has the right to give advice to the provincial government and we have taken his guidance just like we took the guidance of Siraj ul Haq and leaders of other opposition parties.” He said he has not been to Bani Gala.
