ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to allocated Rs1,418 billion in the next budget 2015-16 for development programmes.
The Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) approved 20 per cent more amount from the allocation of outgoing fiscal year.
Foreign lenders will finance 20% of the national development programme and provide Rs283.4 billion loans during fiscal 2016. For the federal development budget, this ratio goes higher to 31%, mainly due to projects that are part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The APCC, under the chairmanship of Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, cleared Rs580 billion for the federal Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) – an increase of just over 10% over this year’s budget of Rs525 billion. To fund this year’s spending, the federal government will seek Rs182.7 billion in foreign loans.
Another Rs838 billion will be spent by the four provinces from their budgets, which is Rs188 billion or 28% higher than the outgoing fiscal year’s Rs650 billion provincial annual development programme. The provinces will obtain Rs100.6 billion in foreign loans to finance their development spending.
Federal ministries have seen their development allocations cut by 15% from Rs296 billion this year to Rs251 billion for fiscal 2016.
