Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Adviser to the Chief Minister on Finance, Muzzammil Aslam, said KP presented a deficit budget mainly because merged districts faced a Rs121 billion funding gap.
Aslam made the remarks Saturday during a post-budget briefing at the Civil Secretariat with Information Minister Shafi Jan. He said the National Finance Commission, not the National Economic Council, could authorise or curtail provincial expenditure.
The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf adviser said no legal forum other than the NFC had authority over the matter. He also rejected claims that provinces had agreed to return Rs1.2 trillion to the Centre.
Aslam said the federal government would need a constitutional amendment to deduct money at source from provinces’ share of the divisible pool. He added that Chief Minister Sohail Afridi wanted to consult PTI founder Imran Khan in jail. This would be before deciding on any grants to the federal government.
The adviser said the federal government allocated Rs66 billion for merged districts under the annual development programme last year, but released Rs50 billion. He said the Centre also allocated Rs37 billion for the Accelerated Implementation Programme in the current fiscal year. However, it released only Rs22 billion.
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Aslam said KP spent Rs41 billion under the Accelerated Implementation Programme after contributing Rs19 billion from its own resources. He said KP’s Rs2.122 trillion revenue target depended on the federal tax target of Rs15.2 trillion.
He said the Federal Board of Revenue would share Rs13.35 trillion with provinces under the divisible pool formula. He added that KP imposed no new taxes, reduced several levies and aimed to raise its own tax and non-tax revenue to Rs200 billion.
Aslam said the provincial annual development programme carried an allocation of Rs235 billion. He added that Rs50 billion had been set aside for the Sehat Card. Meanwhile, the Peshawar BRT would extend to the divisional headquarters.
