Winding up debate: Finance minister says KP’s loan stands at Rs330bn

PESHAWAR: Winding up debate on the budget, Finance Minister Taimur Salim Jhagra on Tuesday claimed that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government presented the best budget compared with other provinces.

He clarified that the total loan of the province stood at Rs330 billion and not Rs800 billion. The minister said KP’s loan stood at Rs100 billion, which was 33 percent of the budget, when the province had Rs300 billion budget in 2012-13.

He said that now the province had a debt of Rs330 billion against the Rs1,342 billion budget, which came to 25 percent only. He admitted it was a political budget as the ruling party presented the budget in accordance with its manifesto.

Jhagra said the salaries of the ministers had not been increased due to the financial position of the province, adding it was also wrong that the budget consisted of only 11 percent provincial revenue.

About Peshawar’s development, the minister said BRT service was being extended to five more feeder routes. Jhagra said parks were being established to provide recreational facilities to people.

The minister criticized the federal government for not releasing the arrears of the net hydel profit. Earlier, speaking on the budget, Mehmood Ahmad Khan Bhittani of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl complained that his constituency was ignored in the budget allocations.

Taking part in the debate, Ikhtiar Wali Khan of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) said that constituencies of the opposition members were ignored in the budget. He said Imran Khan was responsible for the price-hike and increase in petroleum prices. He alleged forests were set on fire to hide the corruption in the Billion Tree Tsunami project.

Ikhtiar Wali said that the Nawaz Sharif government restored peace in the tribal districts. He said that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced development schemes for the merged districts including establishment of a university. He said the PTI government stopped funds to the Sehat Card scheme and blamed the federal government despite the fact health was a provincial subject.

Ahmad Kundi of PPP said the government failed to protect the rights of the province. He said the minister give wrong figure about the hydel electricity produced by Tarbela dam. He said the dam produced 18 to 20 billion units annually but the finance minister mentioned just 11.8 billion units.

He said the consumers from KP should not be charged for the fuel adjustment surcharge in electricity bills.” “We are given Rs20 to 30 billion on account of straight transfer against the Rs100 billion being charged from the consumers of the province,” he added. He said the PPP government in 2010 gave the seventh NFC award that benefited the KP, but the PTI failed to announce the next one.

It was a PPP-led setup which had raised the share of the provinces in the federal divisible pool from 46 to 57.5 that benefited the province Rs80 billion besides Rs32 billion benefit on account of general sales tax, he said, adding the PPP and allies made all this possible through political consensus.

He appreciated the federal government for allocating funds for the Chashma Right Bank Lift Canal (CRBC). However, he regretted that the provincial government did not allocate funds in the budget for the project.

Mir Kalam Wazir said the merged districts were being meted out step-motherly treatment. He said that the PTI government suspended funds for the Sehat Card and it was now blaming the federal setup.

Demanding a probe into forest fire, he said it seemed the forests in Pakhtun belt were being burned down under a conspiracy. He questioned the government’s claim about lack of funds, saying it increased the salaries of ministers and paid for the use of helicopter by the chief minister, ministers and bureaucrats.