MUZAFFARABAD, June 21: AJK Finance Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Ashraf on Thursday admitted that the AJK Council was not “even-handedly” spending the taxpayers’ money at its disposal but said the issue involved amendments in the Constitution and rules.
The minister was asked at the post-budget press conference that if the 80:20 ratio of income tax distribution between the AJK government and the AJK Council needed to be amended in favour of the former which was accountable before the Assembly.
“They (Council) do spend these funds in AJK but I admit that the allocations (by the Council) are not equitable,” he said.
He parried an allied question that why the AJK government was not taking up the issue of its share in US $45 million which the AJK Council had allegedly received as license fees from different cellular phone companies operating in the AJK territory.
When asked why his budget speech was silent about much needed austerity measures in AJK, he could not give a plausible reply.
Instead, he said, the government would make decisions about creation of new posts after presenting the finance bill in the assembly on Monday.
He claimed that the government had introduced financial discipline which would deliver results. “Our estimated deficit in the next fiscal year is Rs 5.1 billion but we will reduce it under the guidance of Prime Minister Chaudhry Abdul Majeed,” he said.
It may be mentioned here that in the current financial year, the estimated deficit was worked out at Rs 5.06 billion.
However, in the revised estimates, it had swelled to Rs 7.06 billion and there were strong indications that by the end of the current year (June 30), revenue receipts could see a further contraction thus further expanding the deficit.
In response to a question about the very situation, the minister stressed that the government would meet it revenue targets. “In the next financial year, we will see many other sources of income, mainly some hydropower projects,” he said.
The finance minister further said the government did not believe in making hollow announcements like the previous governments and establishment of three universities and two medical colleges in public sector in less than a year was an ample proof of its performance.