ISLAMABAD: The public sector spending on federal development projects meant for improvement of the standard of living of the people lagged significantly behind targets in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year amid the government’s priority to keep the fiscal deficit within limits imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
By April 18, the government had released only 40 percent of the funds allocated for the federal ministries for the year, according to the Planning Commission.
Under the disbursement mechanism approved by the government, the ministries should have spent about 75 percent of the allocations by now.
Of the allocated Rs362bn, Rs145bn had been released, while about Rs270bn should have been disbursed during the 10 months.
The total Public Sector Development Programmed (PSDP) releases, which also included uplift schemes of some major corporations and special areas like Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, amounted to Rs271bn in nine-and-a-half months against allocation for the year of Rs540bn, with a disbursement rate of about 50 percent.
“The government should have disbursed about Rs405bn by now had it followed its own disbursement mechanism,” an official said.
He said a continuous shortfall in revenue collection was the major reason behind a squeeze on funding for the development programmed because the government’s top priority at the moment was to achieve fiscal deficit targets to remain in the good books of the IMF for continuation of its economic bailout package.
INTERNEWS
