Fiscal 2015-16: Lawmakers approve Rs26b Balochistan supplementary budget

govt presented an additional amount of Rs10.35 billion for development expenditures on the demands of legislators

QUETTA:

The Balochistan Assembly on Saturday approved a supplementary budget of Rs26 billion for the fiscal year 2015-2016.

The chief minister’s adviser on finance, Mir Khalid Langove, presented the budget in the session chaired by Deputy Speaker Abdul Quddus Bizenjo.

The government presented an additional amount of Rs10.35 billion for development expenditures on the demands of legislators, who had put forth 19 recommendations.

While the government did not face any hardships in presenting the supplementary budget, Leader of the Opposition Maulana Abdul Wasay said the budget was not up to the expectations of the people of the province and “not pro-poor”.

“There is nothing in the budget. It seems that lack of planning will continue to haunt the people of Balochistan,” he added.

Wasay said Balochistan had been neglected in the federal development funds and the Balochistan government had also failed to protect the interests of the common people.

He described the government’s performance as being restricted to distributing salaries among employees. “I cannot find any large projects in either the provincial or federal budget for Balochistan,” he said. “Nothing is being spent on improving revenue generation.”

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