PESHAWAR (Commerce Desk) – The budget for the new fiscal year of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be presented today with a deficit of more than Rs 50 billion, while Chief Minister Sohail Afridi will present it in the provincial assembly.
According to assembly rules, only an elected member can present the budget, which is why Finance Adviser Muzammil Aslam, being a non-elected member, has assigned this responsibility to the Chief Minister.
Sources said that the total size of the next fiscal year’s budget has been set at over Rs 2,170 billion. The government has stated that no new taxes will be imposed this time; however, changes in existing tax rates are possible.
According to the provincial government, the development programme has been proposed at over Rs 519 billion, of which Rs 235 billion will be spent from provincial resources, while Rs 150 billion will come from international donor agencies for ongoing projects.
For merged districts, Rs 27 billion has been allocated, and Rs 52 billion has been proposed for the Accelerated Development Programme. A total of Rs 55 billion has also been recommended for government institutions.
Sources further said that a 7 percent increase in salaries and pensions of government employees has been proposed, along with the merger of ad-hoc relief given in 2022 and 2025.
The budget also expects Rs 1,443 billion from the federal government and over Rs 105 billion from hydropower profit, while Rs 180 billion is projected from provincial own resources.
Additional proposals include increased funding for the Sehat Card, a Rs 50 billion fund for youth employment, and a loan scheme for electric three-wheelers.