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Express Tribune
19-05-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Govt lags in using development funds
Taxpayers allocating a proportion of their income for their country expect to see the results of their contribution in the form of some development work implemented by the government to improve the quality of life of people in the country. In Sindh, however, development is reduced to a buzzword, with the majority of funds underutilized even as the year ends. With only weeks remaining before the books close, several provincial departments are still issuing tenders for new development schemes, according to sources. In the first week of May alone, the Highways Division of the Sindh government invited tenders for more than 200 projects, including the construction of 125 roads in Umarkot, setting up of a paver block in Larkana alongside the installation of 77 CC drains. It should be noted that the current financial year will end on June 30th and work on the projects will start only in the next financial year. This is because even after these tenders are floated, contracts take time to be awarded and work to begin-making the timely completion of projects within the year a pipe dream. While development funds are often released in scattered tranches, non-development allocations tend to be readily spent. According to figures obtained from the Finance Department, by the first week of May, Rs1,477 billion out of Rs1,925 billion allocated for non-developmental expenditures, had been released to provincial departments, which ended up spending 88 per cent of this amount. On the contrary, out of the Rs959 billion budget allocated to provincial departments for development projects, Rs571 billion was released, of which only 69 per cent was utilized. An official from the Finance Department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that provincial departments spent a large chunk of the development budget on ongoing schemes, while very little was spent on new schemes. "Since there is no need to complete new formalities for ongoing schemes, it is easy for departments to spend money on existing projects. However, it is difficult to spend on new development schemes since it takes a long time for them to complete all the formalities," explained the official. Dr Kaiser Bengali, a renowned economist, highlighted various technical reasons behind the underutilization of development funds. "Funds are allocated in the budget for new development projects, but the financial year is spent completing their formalities. Any new development project has to go through various stages from approval and preparation of PC-1 to the release of funds. This process often takes a long time hence its implementation is delayed. The relevant institutions of the provincial government should include in the budget only those development schemes for which PC-1 has already been prepared. This will reduce the amount of time taken to implement them," opined Dr Bengali. The problem of timely utilization of funds is not limited to the funds allocated by the provincial government since the allocation received by the Sindh government from the federal government too is not utilized in a timely manner. This can be gauged from a report published by the Auditor General of Pakistan regarding the non-utilization of Zakat funds. Every year, the federal government distributes the funds collected in the form of Zakat to all the provinces, which are obliged to spend this money on the deserving people. With this money, financial assistance must be provided to the impoverished households in the provinces by giving them subsistence allowances. This amount should also be spent on the welfare of orphans, treatment of poor patients and scholarships for underprivileged students at universities. According to the report, the federal government provided Rs4.63 billion as Zakat to Sindh during the financial year 2021-22. However, despite the passage of a whole year, the provincial government spent only Rs850 million on public welfare.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Delinquent Pak
Times of India's Edit Page team comprises senior journalists with wide-ranging interests who debate and opine on the news and issues of the day. How long will a terror sponsor get financial bailouts? Amidst the military escalation by Pakistan – which now includes the irresponsible use of civilian passenger jets as human shields – its latest IMF bailout package was reviewed yesterday. But the spectacle of a sponsor of terror getting bailouts from an international lender is truly jarring. IMF bailouts for Pakistan are akin to giving a delinquent teenager additional pocket money despite a history of irresponsible behaviour. It must stop for the sake of global security. Despite an astonishing 24 IMF bailouts since 1958, Pakistan has little to show by way of reforms. Even noted Pakistani economist Kaiser Bengali has said that his country has been reduced to a pauper, taking loans to pay off loans. Any sensible country would have made its economy a priority. But Pakistan spends the money on defence, willingly gets into conflict situations, and fritters the rest away through corruption. Consider two points. According to SIPRI, Pakistan spent $10bn or 2.6% of its GDP on defence in 2024. This, despite Islamabad's external debt being over $130bn, and forex reserves just $15bn, good for only three months of imports. Pakistan's army is clearly siphoning off most of the country's money and bailout support. Yet, Islamabad this year proposes to further increase defence spending by 18% Second, for every Pakistani Rs 100 collected in taxes, trading and commercial imports businesses contribute just 60 paise. Unsurprisingly, a plethora of Pakistan's politicians fall in the latter category. In other words, Pak generals and politicians are looting the state. But if international lenders threaten to withhold financial support, Pakistan's leaders have perfected the art of negotiating with a gun to their head, effectively engaging in nuclear blackmail. It's time to call Pakistan's bluff. The generals at Rawalpindi GHQ and Pakistan's corrupt politicians have taken the world for a ride for far too long. Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.
Express Tribune
25-04-2025
- Business
- Express Tribune
Non-development expenditures continue to burden treasury
Listen to article Taxpayer's money should ideally be spent on initiatives that benefit the local people. However, in Sindh, a huge portion of the yearly budget is spent on the salaries of employees serving in overlapping departments, leaving behind no resources to address the poverty plaguing the remote areas of the province. According to official data, the total budget for the current fiscal year 2024-25 is Rs3375 billion, of which only Rs959 billion has been allocated for development expenditure, which is barely 28 per cent of the total budget. On the other hand, about 48 percent of the total budget is being spent on the salaries and benefits of government employees. Data from the Finance Department revealed that Rs737 billion was allocated for the salaries and benefits of government employees in last year's budget, while Rs988 billion has been allocated for this purpose in the current fiscal year. Hence, the expenditure on salaries and benefits of government employees has increased by Rs251 billion in just one year -- however, the overall development budget has increased by only Rs224 billion. Dr Kaiser Bengali, a renowned economist, revealed that the Sindh government has unnecessarily created several departments in each sector, which are incurring additional expenses on separate offices and employee benefits. "For instance, the education sector includes the Primary Education Department, Middle Education Department, Secondary Education Department, Higher Education Department, College Education Department, Technical Education Department and Universities and Boards Department. All the above departments can be merged into one department and steps can be taken to reduce unnecessary expenses. In areas like Sujawal and Thatta, 75 per cent of the residents are forced to live below the poverty line. The Sindh government can provide employment opportunities to people in these areas by reducing its non-developmental expenses. For example, tomato ketchup factories can be set up in Sujawal district while children's cereal production plants can be set up in areas where rice is cultivated more," said Dr Bengali. According to sources of The Express Tribune, there are 63 official departments in Sindh for which separate budgets are allocated every year. Like the education department, there are many departments that can be merged together to reduce expenditures. For example, Works and Services and Education Works are two separate departments with the same function. Both departments have been established for the construction and repair of government buildings. The only difference is that the Education Works Department only carries out the construction and repair of educational institutions. Similarly, the Housing and Town Planning Department and the Human Settlement, Special Development and Social Housing Department have been created for the same type of work. The only difference between the two is that one department only plans slums. Similarly, the Social Welfare Department and the Social Protection Department are two separate institutions created for social welfare. They can also be merged and made into one department. Likewise, the Home Department, the Police Department and the Prisons Department are three separate departments that oversee the arrangements for law and order and crime prevention. The Sindh government has also created more than one department related to food, including the Agriculture Department, the Food Department and the Livestock and Fisheries Department. These three departments too can be merged into one. There are also three separate departments related to human rights. These include the Department of Human Rights and the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The only difference is that one department specifically oversees the affairs of minorities while the other oversees the affairs of differently-abled persons. Meanwhile, Sindh government spokesperson and member of Sindh Assembly Sadia Javed while talking to The Express Tribune assured that the Sindh government will make every effort to reduce non-developmental expenses as much as possible and increase the development budget.
