F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s Adviser on Finance Muzammil Aslam has said that development and financial priorities have been set in the current budget keeping in mind the ground realities. Adding that without the better performance of the federation, the provinces cannot give better performance.
Addressing post budget Conference in Peshawar, Muzamil Aslam said that last year, the economic pressure on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was very high and the province received Rs90 billion less due to the reduction in tax collections from the federal government.
He said the development funds allocated for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the federal budget have been kept even lower than those of Sindh and Punjab, while the full amount of NFC and ADP has never been provided.
Muzammil Aslam claimed PK province has shown the possibility of achieving the target of Rs 93 billion during the current fiscal year. In the tribal districts, Rs 20 billion was spent in the form of AIP during the year 2024, while Rs 47 billion of the current budget was spent from its own pockets.
KP Finance Adviser said that the annual development budget of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been increased to Rs153 billion, out of which schemes worth Rs419 billion have been completed. Moreover, 810 development projects have been included in the next fiscal year, with a total cost of more than Rs500 billion.
Adviser to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that no new loan is being taken in the new fiscal year, however, if any mega project is to be started, a loan can be taken. The government has allocated Rs 150 billion for repayment of loans, from which a profit of Rs 60 million is being generated daily. An income of Rs 17 to 18 billion is expected from the loan repayment funds next year.
Muzammil Aslam said the federal government will make a full payment of Rs 70 billion in the next financial year for the first time, while Rs 3 billion is being paid to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa monthly in the form of hydroelectricity. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government employees are receiving about 30 different allowances.
Despair allowance has been fixed at 30 percent for employees outside the secretariat. The salaries of police personnel have been made equal to those of the Punjab Police and have been increased by another 10 percent.
Muzammil Aslam said that during fiscal year 2024-25, the health card and education sector were quite low. KP had set target at Rs93 billion, but the government achieved more than Rs90 billion.
He said PTI government was expected to get 90 billion from NFC. The federation had promised 42 billion, but only 6 billion were given to the provincial government. He lamented that former FATA has not been included in NFC despite it KP government spent more than Rs70 billion on merged districts. KP Finance Adviser Muzammil Aslam complained that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was being ignored by the federal government. He said the provincial government is going to borrow Rs 170 billion.
