close
Thursday March 28, 2024

KP faces Rs67b budget deficit in six months

Rs12b revenue haul in foreign assistance, Rs6b in NHP

By Riaz Khan Daudzai
January 26, 2015
PESHAWAR: The budget deficit of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has swollen to Rs67.19 billion in six months, July to December, of the current financial year, 2014-15, and the major receipts haul Rs12.16 billion has been recorded in the Foreign Project Assistance (FPA) to the province.
The finance ministry officials admitted that the revenue collected over the past six months was far below the target achieved last year for the period, when the revenue shortfall even after nine months was Rs49.66 billion.
The provincial government in the current fiscal year had estimated Rs404.805 billion in both the revenue and capital receipts and set the target of Rs202.412 billion for the two quarters of the current financial year.
However, at the end of the second quarter on December 31, it received Rs136 billion showing a revenue receipts shortfall of Rs67.19 billion. As a whole the provincial kitty faced the shortfall of Rs43 billion in federal revenue transfers, Rs18.19 in capital receipts and Rs6 billion in its receipts.
The document shared with The News shows that the province was supposed to receive Rs328.424 billion as transfers from the federal government and its proposed target for the last six months was Rs164.212 billion, but it could fetch Rs120 billion from the federal pouch that shows a revenue haul of Rs43 billion.
The provincial government apparently continued to remain non-assertive in seeking its shares from the Centre, particularly in the Net Hydel Profit NHP head, where an amount of Rs8.5 billion is still outstanding against the federal government.
The provincial government like all previous financial years was supposed to get its capped Rs12 billion as net profit for hydel power generation due for the last two years. It set the target of Rs6 billion for the first two quarters of the current financial year, but till December 31 it received only Rs3.500 billion in the head.
It showed a shortfall of the Rs2.500 billion over the last six months target, while the payment of the remaining Rs8.5 billion NHP over the next six month of the current fiscal still seems to be a remote possibility.
The provincial financial managers have also shown a “likely availability of Rs32.272 billion as NHP arrears during the fiscal and proposed a target of Rs16.136 billion for its first two quarters, but the province could not receive a penny of the amount.
The provincial kitty is expected to receive Rs27.290 billion as one percent subvention from the divisible pool for the war on terror during the current financial year. It has set the target of Rs13.645 billion for the first six months, but received Rs11.255 billion facing a shortfall of Rs2.930 billion.
However, the shortfall in the straight transfers of Rs29.264 billion remained negligible as the province was paid Rs13.999 billion of the amount, while it was expected to receive Rs14.632 billion showing a shortfall of just Rs0.633 billion over the last six months.
Though province’s shortfall in general capital receipts continued to be negligible at Rs0.02 billion, yet its major receipts haul in the development receipts in respect of Foreign Project Assistance (FPA) was still recorded at Rs12.16 billion.
The province estimated to receive Rs35.35 billion in FPA during the current financial year of which Rs17.68 billion was supposed to be transferred to it by the end of second quarter, but it got only Rs5.51 billion recording a shortfall of Rs12.16 billion.
Similarly, an amount of Rs6.00 billion in the name of operational shortfall in FPA remains a deficit in the budget which is not usually highlighted anywhere in the budget document. The province estimated Rs12.00 billion as operational shortfall and was proposed to receive Rs6.00 billion during the last six months, but got nothing of it over the period that should also be projected as budget deficit.
The six-month shortfall in province’s own revenue receipts that include Rs12 billion of GST on services, Rs13.93 billion of Tax and Non-tax revenue and Rs2.85 billion of its own hydel power general proceeds, also remained to be contributing a factor to the budget deficit.
The province estimated its own revenue collection at Rs28.78 billion at the annual budget and set a target of Rs14.39 billion for six months, but at the end of December its revenue collection machinery contributed Rs11 billion showing a deficit of Rs6 billion.