Govt Extends Due Date for Development Projects

The size of the PSDP is still under discussion between Finance and Planning Ministries and crucial meetings on development spending are likely to be postponed again due to this disagreement and lack of resources.

The initial deadline that the National Economic Council (NEC) set for the ministries to submit their projects to the Planning Commission was 31 March, but Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has extended it.

According to the new schedule, the approval for the new Minister for Planning and Development will be recommended to the NEC.

Planning Commission is considering a dozen schemes having a value of around Rs. 1.4 trillion, including the Rs. 934 billion power generation component of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project for the next PSDP.

The project is being brought to the table despite the fact that the dam part of the project lacks funding and its cost has escalated to over Rs. 600 billion.

The current PSDP comprises 1,164 projects that require Rs. 6.3 trillion for completion, leaving no room for financing any new small or big projects.

With the inclusion of new projects, there will be hardly any money to finance these projects.

On May 7, the Finance Ministry had proposed Rs. 500 billion for the PSDP while keeping in view the IMF deficit limitations.

Lately, the Planning Minister has hinted that the envelope could be reduced to around Rs. 600 billion, which would not be sufficient to even complete the ongoing projects.

Similarly, the meeting of the Annual Planning Coordination Committee (APCC) is to be held on 4 June. In the meeting, ministry-wise discussions will be held on the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP) 2022-23.

The government had postponed the APCC’s meeting to make room for a meeting with the Central Development Working Party (CDWP). In the meeting with the CDWP, new projects were presented for consideration, approval, and inclusion in the PSDP 2022-23.

The conclusive meeting of the NEC will likely be held on 7 June before the printing of the PSDP for submission to the Finance Division and parliament on 9 June.



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