Uplift plan cut by a quarter to Rs600bn
The government has officially clipped the size of the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) by a quarter to just Rs600 billion compared to the Rs800bn allocation, citing fiscal constraints. This will be the second year in a row that the country’s underfunded infrastructure development will remain constrained by drastic cuts even in funds allocated by the parliament. In the previous fiscal year (2021-22), the development programme was contained at about Rs550bn against a budget allocation of about Rs900bn — almost a 40pc cut — as no funds were released for spending throughout the last quarter (April-June) amid political transition. The Ministry of Planning and Development on Sunday confirmed that it had authorised the disbursement of Rs129bn for PSDP projects for the fourth quarter (April-June) despite financial constraints and disruptions caused by super floods last year.