QWP terms KP budget unrealistic

PESHAWAR: Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) provincial Chairman Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Monday termed the provincial budget unrealistic and said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was trying to fool the people.

Speaking at a press conference, he said the government would be unable to meet the tax collection target set in the provincial budget. Quoting the budget document, Sikandar Sherpao said the shortfall between the projected and actual figures was more than Rs207 billion and it amounted to 23 percent shortfall.

The QWP leader said the budget deficit stood at Rs140 billion. “Last year, when the budget was presented, I had pointed out that the projected deficit of Rs90 billion was not the total deficit, and the actual deficit will be much higher,” he recalled.

He added that the same was the case with the provincial own receipts as the targets could be not achieved in the last budget, showing a shortfall of over Rs2 billion. This year too, he argued, the KP government had set such targets, which could not be achieved, adding that the federal government transfers were over-projected to show a rosy picture.

He expressed pessimism over the targets set by the government in the budget and said that the provincial own receipts could not be achieved, adding the province would not receive the straight transfer of Rs26.5 billion.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sikandar Sherpao said, did not receive a single penny this year of the net hydel profit arrears. “The KP government has been unable to take up this matter with the Centre,” he believed.

He added that the total target of provincial own receipts amounting to Rs118.2 billion was ambitious and could not be achieved. The QWP leader asked as to how the government would be able to achieve these targets as the rulers were claiming the economy had been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The National Finance Commission Award should have been announced, but the KP government is not protecting the provincial rights”, he said. The government, he added, could not keep its promise of providing 3 percent from the NFC and Rs100 billion each year to the merged districts.

He said the province was being deprived of its due share of water under the Water Apportionment Accord 1991, urging the federal government to pay the Rs200 billion outstanding amount to the province.

Criticising the KP government, he said that it was not taking up the case of excise duty on oil with the federal government. Sikandar Sherpao said the provincial government had not allocated funds for universities. He also opposed the proposed Electricity Policy 2021 being considered by the Council of Common Interests and said that it was against the interests of the province.