Govt cuts development budget by Rs173b to meet petroleum subsidy

The federal government has reduced the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by Rs173 billion to generate revenue to meet the petroleum subsidy, reported 24News HD TV Channel on Wednesday

Officials said the planning ministry reduced annual allocations of nearly all ministries on a proportional basis, with a few exceptions.

The largest single cut of Rs38 billion was made in the National Highway Authority’s budget, reducing it to Rs185 billion.

So far, the NHA has spent Rs73 billion against its annual allocation, which the report said reflected slow releases by the finance ministry.

The allocation for water sector projects was reduced by Rs23 billion, while the Water Resources Division’s overall allocation was cut by Rs123 billion to Rs106.6 billion. Its spending during the first nine months stood at Rs47 billion.

The allocation for provincial schemes was reduced by Rs22.5 billion to Rs79.1 billion, with nine-month spending recorded at Rs36.2 billion.

The Power Division’s budget was cut by Rs16 billion to Rs75 billion, while its utilisation in nine months amounted to Rs41 billion.

The merged districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa faced a total cut of Rs11.2 billion, leaving a revised allocation of Rs54.2 billion. Budgets for Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan were also reduced again, according to the report.

The education ministry’s development allocation was lowered by Rs5.5 billion to Rs26.6 billion.

Another Rs7.2 billion was cut from the Higher Education Commission’s budget, which now stands at Rs35 billion.

The health sector’s development budget was reduced by Rs2.4 billion to Rs11.6 billion, while the defence ministry’s development allocation was cut by Rs1.8 billion to Rs9 billion.…Read more by News Desk