• Allocations for nearly all sectors slashed, except for road-building projects and parliamentarians’ schemes; funding for food, water, energy and social sectors curtailed
• Govt allocates Rs880bn for the public sector development programme, down 20pc from current year
• Provinces to pitch in Rs2.80tr under annual plan to boost uplift spending
• Development plan prioritises Bhasha Dam, Rs120bn Balochistan highway
• Ahsan Iqbal says more than 100 projects worth Rs1tr to face cuts

ISLAMABAD: Under the tight control of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), next year’s federal development programme cuts allocations for almost all sectors, barring a rise in road building schemes and no changes to parliamentarians’ schemes.

Despite this, the Annual Planning Coordination Committee (APCC) cleared the national development programme worth a record Rs4.083 trillion, aided by Punjab and Sindh, showing greater financial muscle than the Centre which is pauperised by greater financial devolution, debt servicing, and security needs.

Based on this spending, the government set next year’s growth target at 4.2pc, supported by a 4.4pc target in agriculture output, 4.3pc in industry, and 4pc in the services sector, and an inflation rate at 7.5pc.

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal, who presided over the meeting, did not mince words about the unprecedented fiscal constraints and asked the provincial representatives to convince their leadership not to seek........

© Dawn Business