Govt hints at 27pc hike in PSDP

Hinting at calling the 13th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of the CPEC to meet on May 22-23, the government is expected to increase by over a quarter the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the next fiscal year, notwithstanding struggling development spending this year amid IMF-backed fiscal consolidation and stabilisation outlook. Informed sources told Dawn that the Ministry of Planning and Development is targeting Rs1.2 trillion worth of PSDP for the next fiscal year, almost 27pc higher than the Rs940bn allocation during the current fiscal year. The actual development spending in first nine months of current year has hardly reached Rs270bn, even lower than last fiscal year’s Rs293bn in comparable period. The government is seeking another bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), believed to be a continuation of the just concluded fiscal and monetary tightening, to deal with serious fiscal and economic challenges. The Ministry of Finance has already clarified that the government would put all efforts “into enhancing revenue collection, controlling expenditures, and maintaining fiscal discipline” to deal with the challenges.