Only 58% of K-P uplift budget utilised

Cash-starved PTI govt trying to secure money to finance developmental schemes

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has been struggling to make full use of the budget for Annual Development Projects (ADPs), with only 58 per cent of the budget assigned to the province for development utilised in more than nine months of the current fiscal year.

Officials of the K-P Planning and Development (P&D) department foresee a further decline in the pace of developmental funds spending in the ongoing fourth quarter.

“The government is short of funds and finance (K-P’s Finance Department) is delaying release [of funds] for development schemes which would definitely slow down spending,” said a senior official of the P&D department, while requesting not to be named.


“The department is presenting differing justifications for the shortage of funds. The finance secretary says that the department is not receiving funds transfers from the federal government in time, while more than 90 per cent of our budget is dependent on the revenue transfer from the federal government,” the official said.

Updated and fresh figures secured from PIFRA (the Project for Improving Financial Reporting and Auditing) shows that the K-P finance department has released Rs101.4 billion funds for different sectors in the ADP out of which only Rs72.5 billion have been spent so far which accounts for 58 per cent of the total Rs125 billion ADP.

The K-P government has earmarked a total Rs161 billion developmental funds for FY2016-17 – Rs125 billion local component and Rs36 billion foreign aid.

The road sector has spent 166 per cent of its allocated funds as it has spent Rs19.2 billion out of its total Rs10.6 billion allocation.

“The figure is high because of extra funds released for the construction of the Swat Motorway project and the road sector is quick in spending its allocated funds,” said an official privy to the matter.



The forestry department, which is running the K-P government’s flagship scheme – the Billion Tree Tsunami afforestation – has spent 72 per cent of its allocated funds.

It is followed by the elementary and secondary department which has spent 56 per cent of its allocation and the rest of the sectors and departments – including the highly prioritised health sector – are lingering in spending their funds.

The health and higher education sectors have spent just 36 per cent of their allocated funds in first three quarters of the current financial year.

Similarly, the relief and rehabilitation, home, sports & tourism and industries departments have spent 29 per cent, 27 per cent, 15 per cent and 12 per cent funds, respectively.

The Science and Technology and Information Technology (ST&IT) and Mines and Mineral developments have spent 10 per cent fund each while, Environment, Labour, Transport and Information departments are below 4 per cent in their allocated funds spending.

FUNDS SHORTAGE

The cash-starved government is looking for securing money from everywhere to finance its developmental schemes. The government is borrowing Rs15 billion from the K-P Energy Development Fund and on April 10, the Fund’s board gave the approval to the government demand.



Sources present in the board meeting informed The Express Tribune that the government would return the borrowed money in June.

“The chief minister was angry at the finance secretary over the delay in funds releases for schemes while the finance secretary is saying that the government is short of funds,” said a source present in the meeting.

“The chief minister is trying to get money for his umbrella schemes and he directed the finance secretary to arrange funding for them – for which the funding has been frozen. However, the secretary informed the chief minister that they have no funds.”

It was decided that the additional chief secretary would make the third quarter review and then funds from the slow progressing schemes would be diverted to the CM’s umbrella schemes.

The P&D department official, however, told The Express Tribune that before June 30, no department would be ready to surrender the released funds so the third quarter review would not make the desired fiscal space for the umbrella schemes.