Supplementary grants hit record amid ‘austerity’

As parliament authorised the federal government on June 28 to impose over Rs1.7 trillion in additional taxes for the current fiscal year, it was also compelled to retrospectively approve a record Rs9.4tr for expenditure overruns and re-appropriations, nearly five times more than the previous year’s amount. This massive overspending occurred despite claims of austerity and tight fiscal control by three successive administrations — PDM, caretakers and the incumbent coalition government — amid ongoing economic stabilisation efforts. Most of these supplementary grants are described as “charged expenditure” out of the Federal Consolidated Fund, which is just presented to parliament for its information and is taken as approved without voting. Simply put, parliament cannot reject these grants because the amount has already been consumed.