ISLAMABAD, June 9: The government has announced Rs520 billion for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the 2007-08 budget that is an overall increase of 24 per cent over the last year’s allocation and a 30 per cent jump in the provincial development programmes’ amount.
The interesting part is that 86 per cent of the PSDP allocation will be consumed by ongoing development projects, leaving only 14 per cent for new high-priority projects. This means that the government has either been allocating very little amount or the allocated funds lapsed due to non-execution of the projects.
The real PSDP amount reduces to Rs427 billion when foreign loans totalling Rs58.6 billion and Rs35 billion earmarked for earthquake reconstruction is deducted.
The PSDP/GDP ratio is 4.8 per cent compared to current year’s 4.3 per cent. The federal share in the PSDP is Rs335 billion while the provincial governments are expected to receive Rs15 billion. Public sector corporations will invest Rs204 billion outside the budget increasing the volume of the overall PSDP to Rs724 billion.
In sector-wise break-up, the water and power sector receives the maximum amount of Rs84 billion compared to last year’s Rs70 billion. The water sector also gets Rs73 billion outside the PSDP amount.
Power sector allocations have been reduced from current year’s Rs26 billion to Rs20 billion while the water sector allocation increases from Rs44 billion to Rs63 billion.
Others who will share the PSDP amount include the petroleum and natural resources division (Rs72.81 billion), communications (Rs6.001 billion), ports and shipping (Rs17.39 billion), interior division (Rs15.00 billion), industries and production (Rs1.42 billion), and defence division (Rs19.10 billion).
Communication, which is allocated Rs30.69 billion in the current budget, will get Rs5.61 billion next year; railways, whose share is Rs10.40 billion in the current fiscal, will get Rs11.54 billion in the next budget; planning division, whose share in the current budget is Rs33.84 billion, will receive Rs14.43 billion.
Agriculture sector is allocated Rs15.80 billion compared to last year’s Rs11.27 billion, industries and production division will receive Rs94,98 billion compared to Rs51.34 billion of the current year.
Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas have been allocated Rs13.72 billion against Rs10.45 billion of the current fiscal.
No funds have been set aside in the PSDP for the Kalabagh dam.
