THE PTI government in KP is not known for sound public service delivery in a province whose economy has been battered by decades of terrorism. However, the party, which has ruled KP since 2013, has made strides in the art of budgeting and packaging its priorities attractively. Not that everything it claims in its budget documents is implemented, or can be taken at face value, but the province has undoubtedly made significant progress in deepening fiscal discipline over the past couple of years — at least according to the numbers. For example, the Ali Amin Gandapur administration has significantly raised the province’s own tax receipts, especially sales tax on services, while producing the cash surplus committed under the IMF programme. It has also targeted infrastructure gaps despite reduced or nil transfers from the centre under net hydel profits, the windfall levy under the 2012 petroleum policy, and federal funds for the ex-Fata/Pata region.

In its budget, the province appears to be focusing on infrastructure development and provincial tax income growth while providing some relief to the urban middle class on property transactions and raising the pay and pensions of its employees without breaching the fiscal stabilisation framework. Hotel bed tax has also been cut while registration and token taxes for environment-friendly vehicles have been waived. Unlike the centre or Sindh, KP has announced an increased minimum wage of Rs40,000. There is a marked hike in budgeted allocations for health, education, water and other schemes for better service delivery. Finance Minister Aftab Alam has pointed out that the new budget emphasises social protection, employment generation, security and economic development. “The budget is a roadmap for development and prosperity of the province,” he claimed. There is no reason to doubt the government’s intentions. But the stories of corruption and mismanagement of development schemes resulting in cost and time overruns, as well as growing infrastructure gaps despite large public development spending tell another story. These narratives may not be wholly based on facts, but they underline weakened governance in KP. The resolve to improve public service delivery is not enough. The ruling party must also strengthen the administrative capacity to implement its development vision and plug the leakages of funds through good governance.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2025