A whopping Rs272b for special schemes

Will include PM’s and MNAs’ pet projects

ISLAMABAD: The government has set aside a whopping Rs272 billion – 27% of the proposed federal development budget – for special programmes and prime minister and parliamentarians’ pet schemes, thinning out already scarce resources and delaying execution of hundreds of projects.

Diverting as much as Rs242 billion for projects and programmes not executed through normal channels shows a flawed development strategy that may yield short-term benefits to the ruling PML-N in its last year but would carry adverse impacts in the longer run.

The proposed Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the fiscal year 2017-18 cumulatively includes 1,145 projects – or 153 schemes more than the one for the outgoing fiscal year. More alarming is the total cost of these schemes – Rs9.2 trillion. And the authorities still need Rs6.5 trillion, or 70% of the cost, to complete work on them.



In Planning Commission’s language, the Rs6.5 trillion is ‘throw forward’ or the gap between total cost and spending to-date.

Most of these schemes are financed by the federal government out of its budgetary resources. Few of them are funded by corporations such as the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) by arranging funds from the market on their balance sheets.

The PML-N prefers undertaking grandiose projects, instead of working on initiatives that are invisible to voters.



Probably, this is why allocations and the number of projects surged over the past four years after the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) materialised. Road projects are valued at Rs6.6 trillion out of the total projects cost of Rs9.2 trillion, including CPEC projects worth Rs1.1 trillion.

Despite having assigned the highest priority, the government is highly likely to face problems because the throw forward in roads and power sectors comes to three-fourth of the total cost of projects – mainly because of lack of resources and the longer period needed for executing these schemes.

Good budgeting and planning demands that resources should first be provided to schemes that are already underway. By ignoring these principles, the PML-N government has added dozens of new projects in the proposed PSDP 2017-18, apparently to eke out political mileage in an election year.



Many of the new schemes were kept outside the normal budgetary and releases processes.

Under the head of special programmes, the federal government proposed Rs242.5 billion allocation for the next fiscal year. This includes Rs90 billion for security enhancement and relief for Temporarily Displaced Persons affected by Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Although this spending falls under current expenditures, the government has clubbed it with development, thus diverting a significant chunk of the budget for non-development activities.

In the outgoing fiscal year, Rs100 billion has been proposed for TDPs and security establishment.



A sum of Rs25 billon has again been proposed for Gas Infrastructure Development Cess fund, although the government could not spend a similar amount that it kept in the budget of the outgoing fiscal year.

A sum of Rs144.5 billion has been allocated for projects and initiatives over which Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and parliamentarians will have direct or indirect control. These include prime minister’s packages in health, roads, energy and water and laptop sectors.

For four schemes of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, an amount of Rs19.4 billion has been allocated under the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, including Rs10 billion for the first and second phases of the PM’s National Health Programme. An amount of Rs9.3 billion has also been proposed for the PM’s Programme for New Hospitals and creating a support infrastructure for PM’s hospital scheme. The allocations for PM’s pet schemes amount to 40 per cent of the next year’s total health sector development budget.



For the PM’s initiatives for youth, Rs20 billion has separately been proposed in the new development budget.

What appears to be a bid to please voters, the PM’s Energy for All and Clean Drinking Water for All special programmes will get Rs25 billion – Rs12.5 billion each. The Planning Ministry has no idea how this money will be spent.

For the PM’s Global SDG’s Goals, Rs30 billion has been proposed. This money will be spent on the recommendations of parliamentarians.

For Special Federal Development Programme, Rs40 billion has been proposed in the new budget. This money will also be spent on the discretion of the PM and his party’s lawmakers in the National Assembly.