Underutilised funds

Public money, meant to build roads, schools, hospitals and livelihoods, is once again sitting idle. The latest data on the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) has revealed that funds allocated with political fanfare were spent with bureaucratic lethargy and selective urgency.

In the first nine months of the current fiscal year, barely 41.5 per cent of the Rs1 trillion PSDP allocation was utilised. Even after a downward revision to Rs910 billion, spending rose only marginally to 45.6 per cent - far below the government's own target of at least 75 per cent by this stage. This represents stalled infrastructure. What stands out, however, is not just underutilisation but uneven utilisation. While core sectors limped along, parliamentarians' schemes under the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme moved with remarkable speed. Nearly 70 per cent of these funds were spent within a matter of months, making it the fastest-executing component of the PSDP. When politically aligned schemes can be expedited, the persistent delays in critical sectors begin to look less like capacity constraints and more like choices. The consequences are visible across sectors. Housing, a pressing need amid rapid urbanisation, remains neglected. Information technology, often touted as the backbone of future growth, is severely underutilised. Health spending – so meagre – is worrying too. Even major infrastructure drivers such as the National Highway Authority and the power sector hovered around or below the halfway mark. The issue, therefore, is not simply about spending more, but spending better and on time.

Reform must begin with enforcing strict quarterly utilisation benchmarks tied to accountability. Ministries that consistently underperform should face budgetary penalties, while efficient departments should be incentivised. Greater transparency in project selection and execution is essential. At a time when Pakistan is negotiating tight fiscal space and external commitments, every rupee carries weight. Leaving them underutilised is not always inefficiency.