Budget-making: Govt allocates Rs103b for water and power projects

Budget Priorities Committee begins allocating scarce resources to ministries for budget 2013-14 .

ISLAMABAD:

In the midst of a severe energy crisis, the water and power sector had been allocated a developmental budget of Rs103 billion for next year, which is 34% higher than the allocation for the current fiscal year, but still the ceiling fell short of expectations of executing agencies.

The combined budget offered to the Ministry of Water and Power and Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) was 22.8% of the proposed federal development budget of Rs450 billion for the fiscal year 2013-14, commencing from July this year. For the current fiscal, accumulative budget for both agencies was Rs76.8 billion.

During the second day of proceedings, the Budget Priorities Committee on Tuesday finalised Rs64 billion for Ministry of Water and Power’s water sector projects, said the officials. The proposed amount was Rs16.8 billion or 35.8% higher than present fiscal year’s budget allocation for the ministry.

The proposed ceiling for Wapda for next year was Rs64 billion, which was Rs9.4 billion or 31.8% higher over this year’s allocation. However, the officials added the Wapda sought more funds on grounds that it was expecting significant foreign aid for its projects.



Wapda’s request will be reviewed keeping in mind that the overall size of next year’s development budget does not exceed the ceiling of Rs450 billion and the rupee and foreign aid components will be adjusted accordingly, the officials added.

The country needs billions of dollars in new investments in the water and power sector to address the issues of power shortage besides increasing water storage capacity. However, the scarcity of resources coupled with competing demands for limited budget is restraining the planners from allocating sufficient funds for these projects, the Planning Commission officials said.

Besides the development budget, Rs466 million have also been proposed for recurring expenditures of the Water and Power Division of the ministry.

The Budget Priorities Committee, comprising of federal secretaries of finance, planning division and the Economic Affairs Division, also proposed Rs28.1 billion for bearing development expenditures of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). The proposed amount was Rs8 billion or 39.8 % higher than current fiscal’s allocation of Rs20.1 billion.

For current expenditures of Kashmir Affairs and GB Rs507.8 million have been proposed, higher by Rs32.1 million or 6.7% than the present allocation. The proposed increase was lower than the inflation rate of 9%, suggesting budget overruns might happen during the course of the year.

For development expenditures of the Ministry of Finance, Rs19 billion have been proposed, which are Rs5.4 billion or 39.8 % higher than this year’s allocation. The last two political regimes put many projects on the list of the finance ministry that could not be financed from somewhere else. Some intra-provincial projects were also financed out of the allocated development budget of the finance ministry.

For the ministry’s current expenditures Rs3.5 billion have been proposed, higher by Rs520 million or 18%, an increase which is double than the projected inflation rate of 9%.

For current expenditures of Ministry of National Food Security and Research Rs2.7 billion have been allocated, a cost that the nation was bearing due to former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani’s decision to constitute the ministry, despite its closure after agriculture sector was devolved to provinces under the 18th amendment.

For development expenditures of the food ministry, Rs750 million have been proposed, higher by Rs255 million or 55%.

The committee has also suggested Rs556.2 million for the Ministry of Religious Affairs’ current expenditures and Rs673.5 million for recurring expenses of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources. For Islamic Ideology Council, Rs66.1 million has been proposed.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 10^th, 2013.

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