ISLAMABAD: As development spending continued to falter in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, successive governments kept doling out funds for the discretionary schemes of parliamentarians, according to official data. In the past eight months, parliamentarians consumed Rs38 billion out of the allocated Rs90bn in the budget for their schemes, as per the latest data on development expenditure released by the Planning Commission.
The development activities under all the other 34 federal ministries during the 8MFY (July-February) kept struggling with a combined expenditure of just Rs107bn.
The total expenditure under the entire Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) stood at Rs237bn in eight months, over Rs13bn less than Rs250.3bn in the same period last year.
This also included spending on corporations, special areas like Azad Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and merged districts of the formerly Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Parliamentarians get 42.22pc of allocated funds in 8MFY24
In absolute terms, special areas, including Azad Kashmir, GB and merged tribal districts, received the most funding with Rs46.6bn in eight months, followed by Rs37.98bn for the parliamentarians’ scheme.
The funding for special areas was around 27.4 per cent of their budgetary allocation of Rs170bn. Meanwhile, MNAs schemes have already received 42.22pc of funds out of their allocated Rs90bn.
In October 2022, the then Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government increased the allocated amount for schemes — dubbed the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Programme (SAP) — to 87bn, ensuring that all of the coalition’s then 174 members of National Assembly get Rs500m for implementing small projects like sewage lines, gas, water and electricity connections, and repair and maintenance of streets in their constituencies. The same government subsequently enhanced the funds by Rs3bn to Rs90bn for the current fiscal year and authorised the release of Rs61bn before leaving office in the second week of August 2023.
By Aug 31, only Rs14.4bn had been utilised. The amount jumped to Rs22.9bn by the end of Q1 on Sep 30 and crossed Rs35bn by Dec-end, accounting for 39pc of the annual allocation.
In January 2024, the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) and the National Economic Council (NEC) decided to cap SAP funds at Rs61bn, which were already authorised for disbursement and save the remaining Rs30bn for deficit financing.
Source:.dawn.com/
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
