ISLAMABAD, July 13: People’s Party Parliamentarians Senator Akbar Khawaja on Saturday criticized the over two-fold increase in subsidies in the budget from Rs20 billion to Rs64 billion.

In a statement issued by the PPP media cell, the senator, who has worked for the World Bank as an economic expert for over 15 years, said the huge subsidy to the utilities and corporations was an admission that they had failed.

He refuted the government’s claims that planning and implementation mechanisms were being integrated. “The budget presentation and related mechanisms have been poor and lacking in transparency,” he said.

Senator Khawaja also expressed concern over the budgetary allocation of nearly Rs4 billion for the Tamir-i-Watan Programme.