Balochistan assembly: ANP rejects provincial budget

QUETTA:

The Awami National Party (ANP) has rejected this fiscal year’s budget for Balochistan and has demanded changes in the province’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), as the budget debate continued in the provincial assembly on Sunday.

Speaking on the floor of the house, ANP’s Zamrak Khan Achakzai said the finance secretary had pointed out a Rs26 billion deficit but the house was not informed how this deficit would be met. His call was reiterated by Pushtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party’s Nasarullah Zehri.

Achakzai claimed that the federal government owes billions of rupees to Balochistan. He also criticised the budget for looking out for ‘capitalists rather than the masses’ and urged the chief minister to review it, particularly the PSDP portion.

Zehri, meanwhile, said traders have been facing difficulties ever since the current customs collector took over. He too called for reviewing the budget in light of lawmakers’ complaints.

Power cuts continued to haunt the assembly during Sunday’s session as well. Power went out twice in the house while the debate on the budget was taking place.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2015.