Balochistan govt presents Rs750 billion budget for 2023-24

Balochistan Finance Minister Zamrak Khan Achakzai on Monday unveiled Rs750 billion provincial budget “despite financial problems faced by the province”.

During his speech, he added that Rs437 billion have been allocated for non-development expenditure while Rs229.3 billion have been earmarked for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

The provincial government will spend Rs35 billion as development grant and foreign financing will add another Rs39 billion. The deficit for fiscal year 2023-24 is estimated at Rs49 billion.

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The provincial finance minister underlined that 4,721 development schemes will be introduced at a budget of Rs170.7 billion.

Moreover, he added that 4,389 new jobs will be created for youngsters.

“The government of Balochistan set aside Rs5.5 billion for health card,” he said.

The budget document revealed that Rs464.7 billion will be received from the federal government. The province expects to generate Rs37.6 billion from taxes and gain an additional Rs19.4 billion from non-tax revenue.

The capital receipts of the province during 2023-24 will amount to Rs34.7 billion.

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The document stated “it is evident that government of Balochistan mainly depends on the revenues/ funds transferred from federal government in terms of NFC award and other assignments, however province is trying best to broaden its receipt net through generating own source revenue and revising the receipt collection modalities.”

On the other hand, Balochistan intends to spend Rs53.6 billion on economic affairs and Rs61.8 billion on public order and safety. An additional Rs492 million have been earmarked for environment protection.

The government will spend Rs27.5 billion on housing and amenities while Rs42.8 billion will be spend on health sector.

The capital expenditure in 2023-24 will amount to Rs37.1 billion.

“It has been observed that Development Budget is rising at fast pace and is increasing significantly parallel with Non-development budget,” it said.