K-P fully met IMF targets, says CM

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur said the K-P government has fully met the International Monetary Fund (IMF) targets while it is working on a dedicated provincial power transmission line to provide locally produced electricity to industries at subsidized rates.

Over the next three years, 500 MW of hydropower projects will be completed. To support energy needs at the grassroots level, 132,000 deserving households will be provided solar systems free of cost or at subsidized rates, the K-P CM added.

He shared these views during a meeting with a delegation of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), led by its newly elected President Kazim Khan.

Gandapur revealed that the province's own revenues stood at Rs125 billion. He highlighted that the current provincial government exercised strict financial discipline and effective monitoring, which enabled the establishment of a Debt Management Fund with an investment of Rs150 billion during the current fiscal year, with another Rs150 billion are to be added in the next fiscal year, generating significant profit for the province.

Talking about the province's Annual Development Programme (ADP), the CM noted that the throw-forward of the ADP stood at 13.5 years when his government took over, which has now been reduced to four years.

He said that due to poor planning in the past, delays in the completion of development projects over the last 15 years led to cost escalations amounting to a loss of Rs450 billion. The current government has prioritized the completion of ongoing schemes over launching new ones, successfully completing 541 development projects during the past year. He added that the government has presented a balanced and progressive budget for 2025-26 fiscal year.

Gandapur said the new ADP will lay the foundation for projects to be completed within the next three years. A total of Rs195 billion has been allocated for the ADP in the next fiscal year, which will be enhanced to Rs250 billion. For the current fiscal year, Rs120 billion was allocated, all of which has been released, followed by an additional Rs35 billion under ADP Plus.

Discussing his government's 15-month performance, the K-P chief minister mentioned that Rs72 billion in arrears were cleared across various departments, including public universities.