CM says KP budget balanced, progressive

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has presented a balanced and progressive budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

“The government has prioritised the completion of ongoing schemes over launching new ones, successfully completing 541 development projects during the past year,” he said during a meeting with a delegation of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), led by its newly elected President Kazim Khan, according to a handout.

PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, Central Secretary Information Sheikh Waqas Akram, and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Omar Ayub also attended the meeting.The CPNE delegation included Mian Hassan Ahmed, Ghulam Nabi Chandio, Ayaz Khan, Ijaz-ul-Haq, Tanveer Shaukat, Zia Tanoli, Adnan Zafar, Tahir Farooq, Masood Khan, Shahid Hameed, Mumtaz Bangash, Fazal Haq, Yahya Khan, Rafi Niazi, and Mumtaz Sadiq.

The chief minister said the province’s own revenues stand at Rs125 billion, while the provincial government has exercised strict financial discipline and effective monitoring.“It has not only prevented the wastage of resources already present in the system but also enabled the establishment of a Debt Management Fund with an investment of Rs150 billion during the current fiscal year, with another Rs150 billion to be added in the next fiscal year, generating significant profit for the province,” he added.Gandapur hoped that the new ADP would lay the foundation for projects to be completed within the next three years.

“A total of Rs195 billion has been allocated for the ADP in the next fiscal year, which will be enhanced to Rs250 billion. For the current fiscal year, Rs120 billion was allocated, all of which has been released, followed by an additional Rs35 billion under ADP Plus,” he explained.Discussing his government’s 15-month performance, the chief minister stated that Rs72 billion in arrears had been cleared across various departments, including public universities.

At the time of assuming office, Rs17 billion were pending under the Sehat Card scheme alone, and the treasury held only enough funds to cover salaries for 18 days.He said that despite this, the government not only revived and expanded the Sehat Card to include expensive treatments like liver, kidney, and bone marrow transplants and cochlear implants, but also achieved annual savings of Rs13 billion through effective monitoring.

Previously, 75 percent of Sehat Card usage occurred in private hospitals and only 25 per cent in public hospitals. After upgrading public healthcare facilities, those numbers have reversed, with 71 percent of treatments now conducted in public hospitals.

He said the province generated an additional Rs250 billion in revenue through financial discipline and systemic improvements.The chief minister also highlighted reforms in the mining sector, which doubled annual royalty income from Rs5.5 billion to Rs12 billion.

Responding to a question, Gandapur confirmed that the KP government had fully met IMF targets and was working on a dedicated provincial power transmission line to provide locally produced electricity to industries at subsidized rates.

On a political note, the chief minister reaffirmed that Imran Khan was a political prisoner and said PTI would continue its movement for his release.He said the party was mobilizing workers and organizing local-level rallies as part of a mass political campaign, adding that Imran Khan’s narrative enjoyed widespread public support and could not be suppressed.

The delegation also discussed issues faced by local newspapers, including pending advertisement payments and the provincial government’s overall performance.Gandapur reaffirmed the government’s commitment to freedom of the press, in line with Imran Khan’s vision, and noted the enduring relevance of newspapers even in the digital and social media era.