QUETTA: For the first time, the Balochistan government has utilised 90 per cent of its budget allocated for the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the financial year 2024-25 while in the past successive governments were unable to utilise even 50pc of the development budget due to various reasons Shahid Rind, the spokesman for the provincial government claimed while speaking at a press conference here on Saturday.

“The 10 per cent remaining development budget would be released before the end of current financial year for the ongoing development projects,” Mr Rind added.

He said the objective is to ensure efficient utilisation of funds allocated to key sectors such as education, health, public health engineering, fisheries, agriculture, and energy, so that projects are completed on time.

The spokesperson pointed out that previous governments were only able to utilise 50 to 60pc of the budget funds, while historically, more than 62pc of development allocations remained unutilised. He said that under the leadership of Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, the government has used 90pc of the Rs200bn allocated for the PSDP.

Spokesperson says past govts could not utilise more than 50-60pc

He further said that the provincial assembly holds the constitutional authority to legislate, adding that the parties now criticising the Anti-Terrorism Amendment Bill were present in the assembly when it was passed, yet they failed to take meaningful action on the issue of missing persons during their time in government.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2025