KP government to inform PM about financial constraints

PESHAWAR: An important meeting on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget preparation was held here on Monday with the caretaker Chief Minister Muhammad Azam Khan in the chair.An official handout said the participants discussed and reviewed the strategic plans and other related matters for the preparation of the budget for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023-24.Besides caretaker provincial minister for planning Hamid Shah and advisor to chief minister for finance Himayatullah, Chief Secretary Nadim Aslam Chaudhry, Additional Chief Secretary Zubair Asghar Qureshi, and officials from finance and planning attended the meeting.

The participants were briefed in details about the budget estimates for the first quarter of new fiscal year, preliminary outline for the new budget, the annual development program and other important aspects of the proposed fiscal budget.The forum made threadbare discussion on the financial constraints of the provincial government and reviewed various proposals to steer the province out of these financial constraints.

It was decided in meeting that during the next couple of days, a detailed briefing would be arranged for the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the financial constraints being faced by the province due to non-payment of funds under different federal transfers.Addressing the participants, the caretaker chief minister directed the relevant officials to adopt a realistic approach in the preparation of the new budget, adding there was no room for unnecessary expenditures in the new fiscal budget.

All possible efforts should be made to ensure that the funds are allocated in accordance with the proposed development strategy of the provincial government with special focus on the completion of approved ongoing development projects in the province, he added.Meanwhile, the chief minister also chaired a meeting of the policy board of Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) which agreed the proposed increase in water use charges from Rs 0.425 per KWH to Rs 1.10 per KWH for the private sector hydro power projects established in the province.A proper case to this effect would be sent to the federal government. Once the increase is approved, the annual income of the provincial government would increase from Rs 1.3 billion to Rs 3.4 billion per annum, it was told.