At taxpayers’ expense: PM empties Rs22b fund, asks for Rs10b more
Funds committed to development in constituencies of his choice ahead of polls.
ISLAMABAD:
In an unprecedented spending spree, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has finished his annual discretionary development budget of Rs22 billion in just three and a half months.
He has also received another Rs10 billion to spend in constituencies of his choice ahead of the general elections – a move likely to spark controversy with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The opposition party has already revealed intentions to take up the matter with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Sources in the cabinet secretariat told The Express Tribune that the Rs22 billion development budget, allocated under the Peoples Works Programme (PWP)-II, has been fully sanctioned from July 1 to October 15. They added that the finance ministry has increased PWP-II to Rs32 billion under the premier’s directives. The fresh money, however, has not yet been allocated, the sources further revealed.
The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that the entire sum of Rs22 billion has been transferred to the assignment account. The money will be released from the account as work progresses on schemes authorised by Prime Minister Ashraf in constituencies of his choice.
PWP-II, previously known as Khushal Pakistan Programme, is part of the overall public sector development programme (PSDP) but its funds are dispensed at the premier’s discretion. PSDP’s size for the current fiscal year is Rs360 billion, which includes Rs22 billion for PWP-II and Rs5 billion for PWP-I – another special fund utilised under parliamentarians’ schemes.
The finance ministry initially issued orders for a Rs10 billion grant for PWP-II, according to a senior ministry official. This meant increasing PSDP to Rs370 billion immediately and consequently widening the budget deficit. The decision was reversed as such and the Planning Commission (PC) has now been asked to adjust the additional funds by slashing the budgets of other normal PSDP schemes.
This is bound to delay many projects and result in cost overruns. All PSDP-funded projects are already underfinanced and behind their completion schedules, a PC official told The Express Tribune.
PC Secretary Javed Malik said the commission was currently figuring out if it can spare additional funds but nothing had been decided as yet.
The Express Tribune tried approaching CD Additional Secretary Ahmad Farooq but he was unavailable. Efforts to contact PM Secretariat Additional Secretary Seerut Asghar were unsuccessful as well.
Meanwhile, PML-N Deputy Information Secretary Engineer Khurram Dastgir said his party will take up this “naked use of taxpayers’ money for political partronage” with ECP. Condemning the unprecedented spending of public funds, he demanded that the government share details of PWP-II funded projects with taxpayers.
PM Ashraf has also taken another Rs6 billion out of the PSDP for projects in Gujjar Khan, his constituency.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2012.
In an unprecedented spending spree, Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has finished his annual discretionary development budget of Rs22 billion in just three and a half months.
He has also received another Rs10 billion to spend in constituencies of his choice ahead of the general elections – a move likely to spark controversy with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). The opposition party has already revealed intentions to take up the matter with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
Sources in the cabinet secretariat told The Express Tribune that the Rs22 billion development budget, allocated under the Peoples Works Programme (PWP)-II, has been fully sanctioned from July 1 to October 15. They added that the finance ministry has increased PWP-II to Rs32 billion under the premier’s directives. The fresh money, however, has not yet been allocated, the sources further revealed.
The Ministry of Finance has confirmed that the entire sum of Rs22 billion has been transferred to the assignment account. The money will be released from the account as work progresses on schemes authorised by Prime Minister Ashraf in constituencies of his choice.
PWP-II, previously known as Khushal Pakistan Programme, is part of the overall public sector development programme (PSDP) but its funds are dispensed at the premier’s discretion. PSDP’s size for the current fiscal year is Rs360 billion, which includes Rs22 billion for PWP-II and Rs5 billion for PWP-I – another special fund utilised under parliamentarians’ schemes.
The finance ministry initially issued orders for a Rs10 billion grant for PWP-II, according to a senior ministry official. This meant increasing PSDP to Rs370 billion immediately and consequently widening the budget deficit. The decision was reversed as such and the Planning Commission (PC) has now been asked to adjust the additional funds by slashing the budgets of other normal PSDP schemes.
This is bound to delay many projects and result in cost overruns. All PSDP-funded projects are already underfinanced and behind their completion schedules, a PC official told The Express Tribune.
PC Secretary Javed Malik said the commission was currently figuring out if it can spare additional funds but nothing had been decided as yet.
The Express Tribune tried approaching CD Additional Secretary Ahmad Farooq but he was unavailable. Efforts to contact PM Secretariat Additional Secretary Seerut Asghar were unsuccessful as well.
Meanwhile, PML-N Deputy Information Secretary Engineer Khurram Dastgir said his party will take up this “naked use of taxpayers’ money for political partronage” with ECP. Condemning the unprecedented spending of public funds, he demanded that the government share details of PWP-II funded projects with taxpayers.
PM Ashraf has also taken another Rs6 billion out of the PSDP for projects in Gujjar Khan, his constituency.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 2nd, 2012.