Islamabad: The Government only managed to spend about 41 percent of the development funds assigned for the fiscal year despite the 10 -month pass, said the Ministry of Planning.
The development expense was at RS448.6bn in the first 10 months (July-April) of fiscal year 2025, which represents less than 41 percent of RS1.1 billion allocation of budget reviewed throughout the year.
The lack of spending suggests that a large part of the Public Sector Development Program (PSDP), reviewed to RS1.4TR to RS1.1TR, would remain not spent at the end of the fiscal year of June.
The monthly data of the Ministry published on Sunday showed funds granted to parliamentarians were the only exception to insignificant expenditure.
The Ministry of Finance presents the date of backward to deliver unbasted funds in a month
The use of funds at RS35BN was even higher than the first reviewed assignment of RS25BN for the current year.
A mechanism devised by the Ministry of Finance for the current fiscal year dictated the Government should release 15 percent of the PSDP budgeted allocation in the first quarter, followed by 20PC in the second quarter, 25 percent in the third and the remaining 40 percent in the last quarter.
According to the mechanism, the estimated release for PSDP for the end of April must be at least 73pc of the annual allocation or around RS805BN, almost twice the real expense.
The 36 federal ministries, divisions and their agencies could only spend RS339B in 10 months.
However, the Planning Commission said that it had authorized RS638B for disbursement to federal ministries in the first 10 months in line with the instructions of the Ministry of Finance. However, only RS339B could be spent on the ground.
The provinces and special areas, the districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Azad Cashmira and Gilgit-Baltistan merged, saw the lowest expense with RS100BN-36 % of their annual assignment of RS277B.
The Water Resources Division, which had the largest allocation on PSDP at RS170 billion, could spend only RS72.5BN, despite obtaining the authorization of 100 percent of the Planning Commission.
The two main corporate entities, the National Highway Authority (NHA) and National Transmission & Dispatch Company (NTDC), only spent RS109.4 billion in ten months against their joint assignment of RS255bn.
The electricity sector, on the other hand, used RS53B in ten months or around 55pc of annual assignment of RS94.5bn.
The climate change division spent only RS1.5bn of the assignment of RS5.256bn.
The Planning Commission, which is actually the custodian of the Development Program, could only spend RS3.85bn of the assigned RS19B.
The data showed that at least five ministries (commerce, communications, narcotics control, religious affairs divisions and the Special Investment Facilitation Council) failed to spend money.
Early funds surrender
The Ministry of Finance had already ordered all the other ministries and divisions that finish the reviewed estimates for the outgoing fiscal year, devise the budget estimates for next year and “deliver the early savings” before April 30.
This was the first time that the Ministry of Finance ordered to deliver funds sought two months before the end of the fiscal year. The measure can interrupt the routine operations of the public sector.
In the past, the last date of delivery of funds used to be on May 31 when the ministries, departments and corporations had clarity about their financing requirements for the last month of the fiscal year.
The Ministry said the deadline has been advanced in the directives of the Public Accounts Committee.
Posted in Dawn, May 12, 2025
