Balochistan gives priority to all major sectors of the budget: Minister – Gazeta

QUETTA: Balochistan Finance Minister Shoaib Nosherwani said on Saturday that the provincial government has presented a balanced budget, taken into account all sectors and initiated flagship projects for equitable growth across the province.

Addressing a post-budget press conference in Quetta with Planning and Development Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, Nosherwani stressed that the government had prioritized health, education, irrigation, climate change and law and order.

Nosherwani rejected claims that Rs99 billion in development funds had been lost due to non-utilization of funds. “These funds were never approved or made available,” he explained.

He said the release of these funds was hampered by project implementation delays and legal disputes. “The funds remain intact in provincial accounts and will be used in the 2024-25 financial year for ongoing development programs,” he assured.

Nosherwani says the projects are aimed at equitable development across the province

Finance Secretary Babar Khan, Additional Chief Secretary Planning and Development Hafiz Abdul Basit and government spokesperson Shahid Rind also attended the press conference.

Giving details of the annual provincial development program, Planning Minister Buledi noted that the incumbent provincial government, in view of economic challenges and financial difficulties, had reviewed the provincial development program for the current financial year, which included 9,788 programs – 5,068 new and 4,720 in in progress. te – with a total proposed cost of R229.3 billion.

However, budgetary pressures have reduced the cost of the proposed projects to 125.9 billion rupees. Still, he said, 2,172 projects were successfully completed this year.

A development budget of Rs 219.5 billion has been proposed for the next financial year, covering 3,976 ongoing and 2,704 new projects, Buledi said. He stressed that these programs will benefit all 36 districts of Balochistan. Tenders for these projects will begin in the first week of July.

Nosherwani said a huge part of provincial revenues consists of federal transfers and provincial receipts constitute a major part of their economic resources, which include a divisible pool and direct transfers according to the formula established under the NFC. He said the total provincial budget for the next fiscal year is Rs955.6 billion, of which the total share of federal transfers is Rs726.6 billion and the total share of provincial revenues is Rs124.4 billion. The contribution of foreign project assistance is 17.9 billion rupees.

Buledi said the provincial government had presented a budget surplus of R25 billion, prepared a comprehensive, sustainable public sector development program and minimized expenditure. As he said, in next year’s PSDP 64 percent. of this amount was allocated to ongoing programs, and the remaining 36 percent. for new projects.

The government has increased the allocation of funds from the Balochistan Education Fund by Rs 2 billion and has provided scholarships to 75,000 students so far, while Rs 2 billion has been allocated for out-of-school children, he said. Buledi said the government has allocated Rs 2.3 billion for the second phase of the green tractor program and Rs 10 billion for the green Balochistan initiative.

Finance Secretary Babar Khan said pay increases for 319,000 provincial workers would have a budgetary impact of R27-29 billion a year.

Rind announced an amount of 1 billion rupees for the expansion and launch of bus services for people in Quetta and Turbat. There are also plans to give semi-autonomy to three major hospitals in Quetta, establish a liver disease hospital in Nasirabad and upgrade the heart disease hospital in Quetta. Rind added that the budget includes funds for fire units in 14 counties and rescue operations in 10 counties.

Published in Dawn, June 23, 2024