CM orders completion of on-going projects before June

Curtails non-development expenditure by Rs73.2b

KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that despite the shortfall in the federal transfers of funds, the provincial government was taking all measures to carry out development projects so that maximum uplift schemes could be completed this year.

The CM was presiding over a meeting on Friday to review the fiscal position of the province. Sindh Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, Planning and Development (P&D) Chairperson Muhammad Waseem, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Sajid Jamal Abro, Finance Secretary Najam Ahmed Shah and other senior officials of the P&D and finance departments attended the meeting.

The CM was informed that the total outlay of the provincial budget was Rs1,124 billion, against which total expenditures of Rs1,1445b have been estimated which meant there was a shortfall of Rs20.5b. Finance Secretary Najam told Shah that Rs773.2b was allocated for non-development expenditures, but Shah approved a deduction of Rs73.2b and fixed non-development expenditures at Rs700b.



P&D Chairperson Waseem said that there were 1,965 development schemes under way in the province, of which 710 would be completed by June 2019. He said that these 710 schemes had an allocation of Rs42.7b against which Rs34.9b had been released while Rs7.8b was still required to complete them. At this, Shah directed Najam to release the required amount so that the schemes could be completed.

Waseem said that there were 451 priority schemes of Rs73.3b against which Rs29.1b had been released and Rs11b were yet to be released. To this the CM said that he would try to arrange Rs11b for the completion of these schemes.

Shah was also told that there were 804 fast-moving schemes of Rs74.3b against which Rs50.9b had been released but Rs23.4b were still required to complete them. Shah said that he had spared an amount of Rs73.3b from the non-development expenditures which he would try to utilise for the completion of development schemes.  The meeting was informed that the federal government was supposed to release Rs665.1b during the current financial year, but the provincial government had received only Rs390.2b as of March 2019.

Shah directed Waseem to ensure that all schemes pertaining to underpasses, flyover and roads which are under way in the city were completed by June 2019. "In the next budget, we will launch more schemes for urban and rural areas," he added.



At source deduction

Chairing another meeting, the CM said that he was determined to secure a refund of Rs7.21b from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) which it deducted at source from Account No.1 of the Sindh government.

Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla said that his team had held a number of meetings with FBR officials and another decisive meeting is scheduled to be held on Monday.

Excise, Taxation and Narcotics Secretary Abdul Rahim Shaikh and his team will meet a member of the FBR who would be coming from Islamabad on Monday and would reconcile the figures on which the dispute resulting in the deductions from Sindh government's account cropped up. According to Chawla, once these figures were reconciled, the FBR would accept the Sindh government's claim of refund of Rs7.21b. Shah directed Chawla to keep him posted on the progress of the meetings with the FBR or a legal recourse would be adopted.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 20^th, 2019.