Punjab utilized Rs. 406 billion for development schemes during the first nine months of the current fiscal year compared to Rs. 176.8 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
A senior official in the Ministry of Finance revealed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led provincial government had spent this amount under the leadership of former Chief Minister (CM) Usman Buzdar for development schemes during the first nine months of the current fiscal year as compared to Rs. 176.8 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The provincial government had decided to increase the size of its development spending for the current fiscal year by more than 66 percent to Rs. 560 billion from Rs. 337 billion in the last fiscal year.
The PTI-led provincial government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) utilized Rs. 168.3 billion during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year compared to Rs. 94.5 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year. It had decided to allocate Rs. 371 billion for the current fiscal year.
Under the leadership of the CM Murad Ali Shah, the Pakistan Peoples’ Party’s (PPP) Government of Sindh utilized Rs. 106.6 billion during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year compared to Rs. 77.44 billion in the same period of the last fiscal year.
The Government of Balochistan also utilized Rs. 42.9 billion against the Rs. 41.2 billion it had spent in the last year.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Federal Government had provided Rs. 65.745 billion to the KP government as development grants, which is almost 45 percent of the total development grants transferred to the provinces by the Federal Government during the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal year.
The Federal Government has transferred Rs. 143.7 billion to four provinces against development grants, excluding the National Finance Commission Award and other grants. Of the total development grants, the PTI-led Federal Government provided Rs. 61.9 billion to Punjab, Rs. 5.145 billion to Sindh, Rs. 65.745 billion to KP, and Rs. 10.91 billion to Balochistan during the first nine months of the current fiscal year.
