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Pakistan Government to Scrap 24% of Development Projects Amid Economic Strain

Development Projects

ISLAMABAD: The government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has decided to scrap nearly 24% of development projects worth billions of rupees from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for the current fiscal year, according to a report.

This decision is part of the government’s broader efforts to streamline its spending amid growing financial pressures.

Out of the 1,092 projects initially listed in the PSDP, with a substantial long-term financial commitment running into trillions of rupees for completion, the government has identified 260 projects that will be removed from the list. These projects, valued in the multi-billion-rupee range, will be canceled as part of the fiscal tightening measures.

The Ministry of Planning, which is overseeing the process, has developed a set of criteria to guide which projects would be scrapped. According to these criteria, around 23.6% of the total projects listed under the PSDP will be abolished. This reduction is significant, given the large number of ongoing and planned initiatives under the programme.

Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal spoke to the media after attending the PIDE annual conference, emphasizing that the decision to scrap these projects was not politically motivated.

He gave an example of the NED University Project, which had been successfully completed on time, suggesting that some projects may have achieved their objectives and no longer require funding.

Iqbal also pointed out that despite the low utilization of PSDP funds in the first eight months of the fiscal year, the government expected a surge in the utilization rate in the last quarter (April to June).

Official data revealed that, of the total PSDP allocation of Rs1,100 billion, only Rs631 billion had been authorized, and just Rs312.3 billion had been utilized by February. This indicates a significant gap in the expected spending.

While the finance ministry has not yet provided the outlay for the upcoming development budget, the Ministry of Planning has projected that the required funds for the next fiscal year could range from Rs2,500 to Rs2,900 billion, depending on the country’s increasing development needs.

This highlights the government’s challenge in balancing development priorities with financial constraints.

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