Centre may stop financing provincial projects
Amid the tight fiscal position, the Centre is considering ending financing provincial development projects, and instead focusing on five strategic sectors — exports, energy, equity, e-Pakistan and environment (5Es) — in the next year’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). A senior government official told Dawn that the planning and development ministry had moved a summary to the prime minister for his consent to cap the provincial development projects in the PSDP 2023-24 to be presented to parliament as part of the next year’s budget and also restrict the PSDP to 5Es. The decision was taken at a recent meeting, presided over by Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal, with a view to moving forward to finalising the next year’s development budget with clarity after the prime minister’s consent. PM Sharif has been given a suggestion that only those projects should be included in the PSDP which have a strategic importance and no provincial project of devolved responsibilities should be part of the PSDP, except for the projects of compelling significance which should be funded on a 50:50 basis by the Centre and provinces.