QUETTA: Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmed Buledi has rejected the claim of opposition parties about lapse of 80 per cent funds allocated for the Public Sector Development Programme 2018-19 and termed it a baseless propaganda aimed at misguiding people.

Talking to media here on Sunday, he said that the funds had been released for all development projects included in the PSDP. Out of Rs82 billion development funds, the authorities had released over Rs50bn and Rs29bn had been spent on different development projects, he added.

Mr Buledi said that the provincial government was implementing the Balochistan High Court’s (BHC) verdict about allocation of funds for old development schemes. The court had ordered the provincial government to ensure completion of those development schemes which had not been completed for a long time.

The finance minister said that the coalition government was making all-out efforts to complete 400 development schemes launched about 10 years ago.

However, he said that the opposition wanted release of funds for those schemes which had not been approved, adding that after a survey conducted by the chief minister’s inspection team, over 700 schemes, on which less than 30pc work had been done over the years, had been cancelled.

The finance minister said that the opposition parties wanted to create uncertainty through making baseless propaganda about the PSDP allocation.

He said that the preparation for the budget 2019-20 had been started according to the guideline of the Planning Commission of the federal government and the judgement of the BHC.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2019