‘Rich’ Punjab govt closes fiscal year with surplus balance

Punjab Government has closed the financial year 2011-12 with a surplus cash balance of Rs.2.5 billion. This surplus balance was achieved despite the fact that revenue collection of approximately Rs100 billion was not distributed by the Federal Government during the financial year 2011-12. A spokesman of finance department Government of Punjab said that this amount included Punjab Government’s share in excess of Rs 20.0 billion. He said that if Rs 25 billion had also been released by the federal government, Punjab government would have closed the financial year with the expected surplus. The spokesman said that in any case the withheld amount of revenue was available in the federal exchequer; the surplus of over Rs 20 billion was contributed by Punjab government although it was not reflected in the accounts. The spokesman further added that Punjab govt did not invest any of its funds in T-bills and there was no fiscal deficit of Rs 12b by govt.