ISLAMABAD – The Ministry of Planning has requested Finance Division to enhance Indicative Budget Ceiling for the upcoming Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by Rs 200 billion to Rs 700 billion, it was learnt reliably here Wednesday.
The Finance Division has given the provisional Indicative Budget Ceiling (IBC) of Rs 500b for the Public Sector Development Programme for Fiscal Year 2022-23 (PSDP) but the Planning Commission wants to revise it upwards, official source told The Nation.
The Planning Commission has requested the Finance Division that with Rs500bn it will be impossible to complete the ongoing projects or accommodate new one therefore the IBC should be enhanced, the source said. In a letter to Finance Division, the Ministry of Planning has asked for an increase of Rs 200bn in IBC to Rs 700b, the source said. The source said that to finalize the development budget for the upcoming Fiscal Year 2022-23, meeting of the Annual Plan Coordination Committee has been convened on June 04, 2022.APCC is a consultative body which gives recommendations to National Economic Council on macroeconomic and development framework. To give final approval to PSDP and financial indicators for the next fiscal year, the meeting of NEC is likely to be convened on June 07, the source said.
Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal, as Deputy Chairman Planning Commission, will preside the Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) meeting. The meeting will be attended by ministers for planning from the provinces and special areas like Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. The APCC will consider the PSDP proposal for Rs700b allocations, the source said. The source said that the rupee component of the PSDP is likely to stand at Rs 600bn, while the foreign exchange component will be Rs 100bn.The source said that they are still waiting for the reply from the Finance Division. In case the Finance Division didn’t allow increase in IBC, the allocations will be revised downwards, the source said.
The source further said it has also been decided to abolish the block allocations for Finance Division in the upcoming Public Sector Development Programme 2022-23. According to guidelines issued by the Finance Division regarding the inclusion of projects in the PSDP 2022-23, the Finance Division will not maintain any separate block allocations and the PSDP will be exclusively managed by the Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives.
Until now, block allocations for the Finance Division were kept in the PSDP and it was out of the Planning’s domain. The Planning Commission used to issue onetime sanction for Finance Division and they used to manage the expenditure. Now it has been decided that in the new fiscal year the block allocations will be abolished, the source said. During the ongoing FY2021-22 there are two block allocations of Rs 54b for the Finance Division. The Merged Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have the block allocations of Rs 24b while the Merged Districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 10 Years Development Plan has an allocation of Rs 30b.
Furthermore, it has also been decided in the new guidelines that Finance Division shall not keep a separate development demand for the provinces. “All the development projects, allocations and expenditure will be included in the PSDP 2022-23 by the Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives,” the source said. In the PSDP 2022-23, no funds shall be kept for any lump provision or unidentified expenditure, said the guidelines.