PESHAWAR: In an unprecedented move that drew the Centre’s ire, the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on Friday unveiled its first budget of Rs1.7 trillion for the upcoming fiscal year (FY25) with a development outlay of Rs416 billion mainly focusing on social protection, law and order and economic development.
It is extremely rare for a provincial government to present its budget before the federal government lays out its financial plan, scheduled to be unveiled on June 7 this year.
The budget, presented by KP Finance Minister Aftab Alam Afridi in a provincial assembly session presided over by Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, envisages a surplus of Rs100bn. The budgeted expenditure of Rs1.65tr is 21 per cent higher than Rs1.3tr incurred during the current fiscal year (FY24).
Mr Afridi said an amount of Rs28bn has been allocated for the provincial government’s flagship Sehat Card Plus programme. Similarly, he said Rs29bn has been allocated for wheat subsidy and Rs12bn for three youth employment programmes.
Mr Afridi said EhsaasRozgar, Ehsaas Youth and EhsaasHunar programmes will generate 100,000 employment opportunities for the youth.He said the provincial government has allocated Rs3bn for EhsaasApnaGhar scheme under which 5,000 houses would be constructed.
In a major development, the KP government has also allocated Rs10bn for the much-delayed Chashma Right Bank Canal lift-cum-gravity project in Dera Ismail Khan district, the hometown of KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur. Mr Afridi said this project would resolve the food security issue of the province.
He said the government has earmarked Rs3bn in subsidy for the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT).Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervez Malik came down hard on the PTI-led KP government for announcing the provincial budget before the federal budget for FY25, calling it ‘irresponsible’.
At a press conference in Islamabad, Mr Malik accused the PTI of “bringing the country to the brink of bankruptcy”. “The KP government should have waited for the federal budget announcement,” he said, alleging that Imran Khan’s party is determined to ruin Pakistan’s economy.
He said the KP budget was based on assumptions and hoped that the KP government would “review its behaviour”. He also expressed the hope that Chief Minister Gandapur would cooperate with the federal government and the finance minister.
