The federal government of Pakistan has unveiled a Rs1.03tn Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the next fiscal year with 62% proposed to be spent on infrastructure including allocations for projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The proposed PSDP for fiscal year 2018-19 is Rs29bn or 2.9% higher than the outgoing fiscal year’s original development outlay. The PSDP includes Rs100bn in block allocations for the next government.
About 17.4% of the PSDP will be funded by taking Rs180.3bn worth of foreign loans in the next fiscal year.
The infrastructure sector has been allotted Rs575bn or 62% of the proposed budget, social sector has been allotted Rs135bn or 14%, science and technology has been allotted Rs12bn or 1%. Special areas have been given Rs72bn or 8% of the proposed PSDP.
Out of Rs1.03tn, the share of Planning Ministry-administrated PSDP will be Rs825bn, down from outgoing fiscal year’s level of Rs866bn.
Total allocations for federal ministries are estimated at Rs450.3bn as against Rs377.8bn in the outgoing fiscal year.
The federal ministries allocations are about 43.6% of the total proposed PSDP. The corporations have been given Rs346.2bn, Rs34.4bn or 9% less than the outgoing fiscal year.
The infrastructure sector has been given Rs575bn or 62% as against 67% of the total development allocated for the outgoing fiscal year.
The National Highway Authority will get Rs310bn as against Rs319bn in the outgoing fiscal year. Pakistan Railways will get Rs39.4bn in the next fiscal year as against Rs43 billion in the outgoing fiscal year.
The energy sector, mainly the National Transmission and Dispatch Company and Pakistan Electric Power Company, has been given Rs36.2bn, down from outgoing fiscal year’s level of Rs61bn.
An amount of Rs105bn has been proposed for Finance Ministry administered PSDP. This includes Rs90bn for security enhancement and relief for Temporarily Displaced Persons affected by Operation Zarb-e-Azb. However, the nature of this spending falls under the current expenditures but the government has clubbed it with development, which has diverted significant portion of the budget for non-development activities
The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has seen major cut in its allocation.
As against Rs48.7bn, the government has proposed only Rs25bn for next fiscal year. The Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit Baltistan Division will get Rs51.2bn in the next fiscal year as against Rs43.6bn in the outgoing fiscal year.
Higher Education Commission’s development budget has been enhanced to Rs46.7bn as against Rs35.7bn in the outgoing fiscal year. Housing and Works Ministry will get Rs5.4bn as against Rs10.4bn in the outgoing fiscal year.
The Planning Ministry will get Rs27.5bn as against Rs16.8bn budget in the outgoing fiscal year. The Water Resources Division will get Rs79.5bn in the new fiscal year as against its Rs36.5bn in the outgoing fiscal year.
The government has abolished the PM’s Energy for All and Clean Drinking Water initiatives.
For PM’s Global SDG’s Goals, an amount of Rs5bn has been proposed as against Rs30bn in the outgoing fiscal year. This money is being spent on the recommendations of parliamentarians.
The Special Federal Development Programme has also been abolished. In the outgoing fiscal year, Rs40bn had been allocated under this head which were spent on the PM’s Directives.
The Interior Division has been given Rs24.2bn as against Rs15.7bn. The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission has been given Rs30.4bn as against Rs15bn in the outgoing fiscal year.
The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions would get Rs28.2bn as against Rs26.9bn in the outgoing fiscal year.
An amount of Rs10bn has been given for the first time for the FATA Development Plan.
For construction of the Sukkur-Multan section of CPEC’s eastern route, Rs30.8bn has been proposed against the remaining requirement of Rs121.9bn. The total cost of the project is Rs298bn.
For the construction of Hakla-Yarik-Dera Ismail Khan motorway of CPEC’s western route, the Planning Commission has proposed Rs25bn for the next fiscal year as against Rs38bn for outgoing fiscal year. The total cost of this scheme is Rs110.2bn.
For land acquisition of the Sukkur-Hyderabad section of CPEC Rs10bn have been proposed for the next fiscal year as against the requirement of Rs22bn. For land acquisition of Islamabad Raikot section for CPEC Rs1.5bn have been proposed. For construction of the Eastbay road project of Gwadar Rs6bn have been proposed for the next fiscal year. For Pak-China technical and vocational centre Rs625mn have been proposed.


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