Playing with numbers: Sherpao flays govt for turning a blind eye to budget deficit

Says K-P will plunge deeper into financial crisis if government relies on exaggerated figures

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P)  Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao has warned the deepening budget deficit will eventually lead the province into a financial crisis and negatively impact socio-economic activities.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, he said the budget document contained significant discrepancies in figures on resource mobilisation and expenditures. Sherpao criticised Jamaat-e-Islami chief Sirajul Haq, who was the minister of finance at the time the 2014-15 budget was drawn up, for fudging the figures to overstate resources.  “These gaps contradict the government’s claim to curb extravagant expenditures,” he said.



According to Sherpao, the matter has not been addressed in a practical manner and could escalate into a major crisis.

“I warned the government last year to not rely on these exaggerated figures and advised them to adopt pragmatic measures,” Sherpao added. “However, the government has not paid attention to these warnings.”

The party’s provincial chief claimed the inflated figures and the government’s half-hearted approach has resulted in a budget deficit of Rs60 billion.

Sherpao also said K-P would plunge deeper into financial hardship if the government did not make a strong case for the National Finance Commission (NFC) award. Taking a jibe at the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf-led government, Sherpao said leaders had completely ignored the issue because of the sit-ins in Islamabad.

“It appears as if the government considers resource mobilisation and expenditure a non-issue,” Sherpao said. “No strategy has been chalked out to resolve the matter.”

According to Sherpao, the situation could worsen as Rs25 billion from the Federal Divisible Pool of NFC has been allocated to tackle militancy and will not be available to the province this year.

In June 2014, Sherpao had vehemently criticised the figures contained in the K-P budget during a provincial assembly session. He insisted the budget was not balanced and the finance department was trying to hide this fact.

Sherpao had claimed the total deficit stood at Rs64 billion, which was about 15% of the budget. He added that in May 2014 Sirajul Haq had acknowledged a Rs22 billion deficit in the budget. However, a month later, a ‘balanced’ budget was presented.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 21^st, 2015.