Cleansing exercise: With changing priorities, 295 projects lose lustre
PC considering sending back unapproved schemes to sponsoring ministries.
For next year, the proposed development budget is Rs450 billion, not enough to meet financing needs of ongoing schemes requiring Rs1.8 trillion. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD:
The Planning Commission is set to undertake one of the biggest cleansing exercises as it is considering sending back to sponsoring ministries, about 300 projects costing trillions of rupees that were submitted for approval during the five-year tenure of Pakistan Peoples Party-led government but remained unapproved.
The purpose of the exercise is to clear the backlog and reduce the workload of the commission, as these schemes have lost their viability in the ‘changing priorities’, say sources in the commission.
Total cost of these 295 unapproved schemes is Rs4.1 trillion, of which Rs1.33 trillion is to come from foreign loans, according to official documents.
Foreign funds comprise almost a third of the total cost, highlighting the country’s dependence on global lenders that heightens the risk of delay due to unavailability of funds.
The schemes had been submitted to the PC for endorsement and subsequent presentation to the Central Development Working Party for its approval.
The pending portfolio is in addition to over Rs3 trillion worth of projects approved in the past five years including schemes costing Rs1.8 trillion where work is underway but is facing delays due to scarcity of resources.
For the current fiscal year, Rs360 billion was set aside for development projects, of which a significant amount, Rs52 billion, went to meet the needs of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and the parliamentarians.
For next year, the proposed development budget is Rs450 billion, not enough to meet financing needs of ongoing schemes requiring Rs1.8 trillion.
According to sources, there is a possibility that projects received up to 2011-12 may be returned by the PC as their cost estimates have become irrelevant after the lapse of a significant time period.
The move highlights an interesting historical trend of changing policies and priorities with the change of government. The PML-N introduced Vision 2010 in 1997 that was shelved by General Pervez Musharraf government and replaced with Vision 2030. The PPP government threw Vision 2030 and introduced the Framework of Economic Growth. Now, the new PML-N government is likely to introduce Vision 2025.+
Sources said many unapproved projects have no economic viability as these were designed under political considerations in the previous PPP government. This showed that the projects were floated without keeping in view national planning perspective, which indicates that the commission also compromised while receiving such projects for consideration.
The number of projects submitted in 2008 but remained unapproved was three. The figure jumped to 17 in 2009, 20 in 2010 and 23 in 2011. The rest were from the last two years, indicating the use of projects for political purposes.
Asif Sheikh, spokesman for the PC, confirmed that the commission was reviewing the possibility of returning unapproved schemes to the sponsoring ministries. He said new priorities would have to be set by the ministries given the available fiscal space.
Of the pending 295 schemes, 55 are in the health sector costing an estimated Rs54 billion. The transport and infrastructure sector has 53 projects worth Rs2.1 trillion including Rs161.3 billion in foreign loans. The water resources sector has 51 projects of Rs231.9 billion including Rs17 billion in foreign loans.
In physical planning and housing, there are 47 unapproved schemes costing Rs26.8 billion whereas the energy sector has 26 projects worth Rs1.3 trillion including Rs830 billion in foreign funds.
In the field of agriculture and food, five schemes worth Rs417 billion are yet to be cleared, higher education has 14 unapproved schemes of Rs15.2 billion and science and technology has eight schemes of Rs4.4 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2013.
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The Planning Commission is set to undertake one of the biggest cleansing exercises as it is considering sending back to sponsoring ministries, about 300 projects costing trillions of rupees that were submitted for approval during the five-year tenure of Pakistan Peoples Party-led government but remained unapproved.
The purpose of the exercise is to clear the backlog and reduce the workload of the commission, as these schemes have lost their viability in the ‘changing priorities’, say sources in the commission.
Total cost of these 295 unapproved schemes is Rs4.1 trillion, of which Rs1.33 trillion is to come from foreign loans, according to official documents.
Foreign funds comprise almost a third of the total cost, highlighting the country’s dependence on global lenders that heightens the risk of delay due to unavailability of funds.
The schemes had been submitted to the PC for endorsement and subsequent presentation to the Central Development Working Party for its approval.
The pending portfolio is in addition to over Rs3 trillion worth of projects approved in the past five years including schemes costing Rs1.8 trillion where work is underway but is facing delays due to scarcity of resources.
For the current fiscal year, Rs360 billion was set aside for development projects, of which a significant amount, Rs52 billion, went to meet the needs of former prime minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and the parliamentarians.
For next year, the proposed development budget is Rs450 billion, not enough to meet financing needs of ongoing schemes requiring Rs1.8 trillion.
According to sources, there is a possibility that projects received up to 2011-12 may be returned by the PC as their cost estimates have become irrelevant after the lapse of a significant time period.
The move highlights an interesting historical trend of changing policies and priorities with the change of government. The PML-N introduced Vision 2010 in 1997 that was shelved by General Pervez Musharraf government and replaced with Vision 2030. The PPP government threw Vision 2030 and introduced the Framework of Economic Growth. Now, the new PML-N government is likely to introduce Vision 2025.+
Sources said many unapproved projects have no economic viability as these were designed under political considerations in the previous PPP government. This showed that the projects were floated without keeping in view national planning perspective, which indicates that the commission also compromised while receiving such projects for consideration.
The number of projects submitted in 2008 but remained unapproved was three. The figure jumped to 17 in 2009, 20 in 2010 and 23 in 2011. The rest were from the last two years, indicating the use of projects for political purposes.
Asif Sheikh, spokesman for the PC, confirmed that the commission was reviewing the possibility of returning unapproved schemes to the sponsoring ministries. He said new priorities would have to be set by the ministries given the available fiscal space.
Of the pending 295 schemes, 55 are in the health sector costing an estimated Rs54 billion. The transport and infrastructure sector has 53 projects worth Rs2.1 trillion including Rs161.3 billion in foreign loans. The water resources sector has 51 projects of Rs231.9 billion including Rs17 billion in foreign loans.
In physical planning and housing, there are 47 unapproved schemes costing Rs26.8 billion whereas the energy sector has 26 projects worth Rs1.3 trillion including Rs830 billion in foreign funds.
In the field of agriculture and food, five schemes worth Rs417 billion are yet to be cleared, higher education has 14 unapproved schemes of Rs15.2 billion and science and technology has eight schemes of Rs4.4 billion.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 26th, 2013.
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