Rs750b Balochistan outlay contains massive ADP allocation

The Balochistan government presented on Monday Rs750 billion deficit budget for 2023-24, allocating Rs229 billion for thousands of development schemes and increasing pays and pensions of government employees in line with the federal budget.

Finance Minister Zamarak Khan Achakzai unveiled the budget amid an uneasy calm in the provincial assembly. Unlike the past, this year’s budget speech was not interrupted by the opposition lawmakers and there was no protest on the floor.

The government’s revenues in the next fiscal year are estimated at Rs701 billion, leaving a deficit of Rs49 billion. The outlay of the non-development budget is Rs437 billion and the development budget outlay is Rs229.301 billion.

Finance Minister Achakzai announced that the government had also increased the salaries of government employees by 35% for those in grades 1 to 16 and by 30% for the officers in grades from 17 to 22.

“The government has increased the salaries despite financial crisis,” Achakzai told the house in his budget speech. “Pension [of the retired employees] has also been increased by 17.5 %,” the finance minister added.

He stated that Rs229. 301 billion was allocated for the Annual Development Plan, which includes Rs170.724 billion for 4,721 ongoing projects, and Rs58.667 billion for 5,068 new development schemes.

Read Balochistan to boost development budget

The provincial finance minister said that 4,389 jobs would be created in the budget to reduce unemployment in the province. “Most of the vacancies are created in the education and health sectors,” the minister said.

The budget proposed Rs65 billion for health sector. Achakzai said that the government had allocated Rs55 billion for the launching of the health card/health insurance scheme in the province to support all deserving and needy families.

He added that Rs2 billion was allocated to provide scholarship to the deserving students. “Priority is given to the Education Department and over Rs77 billion has been allocated for primary, high and secondary schools department.

“This is good budget and all schemes included,” Hamal Kalmati, a lawmaker from the Balochistan National Party (BNP), told reporters after the budget speech.