Rs663b allocated for development projects

ISLAMABAD: The government has allocated Rs663 billion for development spending during the next financial year, just 2.7 per cent more than the current year in a budget that the government claims will spearhead an economic revival.

More than half of the amount, Rs373 billion, will be allocated to the provinces. The current fiscal year’s budget had earmarked Rs294 billion for the provinces but they only received Rs245 billion, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh said while announcing the budget for 2010-11 in the National Assembly.

“Over one-tenth of the total development budget will be financed by borrowing from external sources,” he said.

According to the budget, the government has allocated Rs646 billion for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). The federal PSDP will have Rs280 billion while the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (Erra) will get Rs10 billion during 2010-11. Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas will receive Rs25.7 billion under the head of PSDP for special areas, Sheikh said.

“Federal ministries had demanded Rs735 billion to meet development requirements for the next financial year but the Priorities Committee recommended Rs328 billion and the final figure for the federal PSDP is Rs280 billion,” Sheikh said.

Surprisingly, the government has also prudently cut its own costs by Rs13 billion. The new budget for the ministries and their divisions is only Rs167.6 billion compared to Rs190.4 billion allocated last year.

ENERGY

The government has allocated Rs131 billion for hydel, thermal and nuclear energy projects to augment generation and improve transmission, Sheikh said.

The Water and Power Division will get Rs28.4 billion compared to Rs28.5 billion allocated last year. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission will get Rs15.2 billion in the new fiscal year against Rs2.11 billion last year, he added.

He said Rs280 billion will be spent on employment programmes under the government’s Special Programmes while Rs56.7 billion have been allocated for the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and the National Highway Authority (NHA) in corporate sectors.

Sheikh further said the Finance Division will get Rs14 billion, the Railways Division Rs13 billion and the Planning and Development Division Rs9 billion.

The Higher Education Commission will get Rs15.7 billion compared to Rs18.5 in the budget for 2009-10.

The Health Division will get Rs16.9 billion, food and agriculture will get Rs108 billion, industries and production will get Rs3.2 billion and the Education Division will get Rs5.2 billion.

Other 35 ministries and divisions faced a cut of funds in the new fiscal year, he added.

“Unlike this financial year, next year’s development budget is not unrealistic and the finance ministry will ensure that all money is released on quarterly basis and that too automatically without requiring the concerned persons to roam around the finance ministry,” said Sheikh while referring to a cut in the current fiscal year’s development budget.

Published in the Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2010.