K-P to seek Centre’s help for budget

The caretaker Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government on Monday decided to brief the prime minister regarding paucity of funds and other financial difficulties facing the province in preparation of the budget.

In this regard, a meeting, chaired by Caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan, and attended by the Chief Minister’s Adviser on Finance Himayatullah and high ranking officials, also decided to seek support of the prime minister in making the budget.

The meeting decided that Finance Adviser Himayatullah would call on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to apprise him of the strategy and other issues related to the preparation of the budget for the first quarter of the next financial year 2023-24.

The meeting was briefed about the budget estimates for the first quarter of the new financial year, preliminary outlines of the budget, the Annual Development Programme (ADP) and other aspects of the budget.

On the occasion, the chief minister directed the authorities concerned to avoid unnecessary expenses in the new budget. He stressed that the allocation of funds for development projects should be judicious and realistic.

Separately, the chief minister chaired a meeting of the K-P Energy Development Organisation Policy Board, which decided to seek the Centre’s approval for increasing the water usage charges from Rs0.425 rupees per kilowatt hour to Rs1.10 for private sector hydropower projects in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 23^rd, 2023.