The convoluted process of releasing funds

In its meeting held on 6th June 2023, the National Economic Council (NEC)approved the national development outlay for 2023-24 at Rs2.71 trillion, including the federal Public Sector Development Programme at Rs1.15tr and provincial Annual Development Programme at Rs1.56tr. In 2022-23, the NEC approved a national development outlay of Rs2.26tr, including provincial ADPs of Rs1.46tr and federal PSDP of Rs800 billion. While Pakistan has a relatively large public spending programme and, as economists suggest, there is a multiplier effect of government spending on the GDP, government spending hasn’t been able to compensate for the lack in other areas of the economy, for instance, Pakistan is trapped in the low private investment-to-GDP bracket. While government spending cannot entirely replace the usefulness of private investment, there are several cracks in the public financial management and accounting system which prevent government spending from translating into better economic and development outcomes.