Punjab’s budget for the next fiscal year represents an old chapter from the playbook of the PML-N, which routinely prioritises the image-building of the top party leadership over meaningful governance for the optimal social impact of the province’s annual development spending plan.

Indeed, though the second budget of the Maryam Nawaz government dots every ‘i’ and crosses every ‘t’, the document is devoid of an effective strategy to achieve impact outcomes commensurate with the large development stimulus it has proposed for the province.

The Rs5.33 trillion spending plan, including a development programme of Rs1.24tr, is a familiar combination of flashy infrastructure projects, politically convenient handouts and promises of public service delivery improvements. What it lacks is not just a strategy for the effective monitoring and implementation of development schemes but also an independent socioeconomic impact assessment or audit of past expenditures.

Flush with cash — thanks to the projected federal transfers totalling Rs4.09tr — the government has spiked its development stimulus for the next fiscal year by more than 47 per cent from Rs842 billion for the outgoing year to Rs1.24tr. “The development stimulus”, said the finance minister in his budget speech, “marks a shift towards transformational planning, placing equity, innovation, and climate resilience at the heart of development” in the province.

On paper, the focus is on stimulus, public services, and growth, but looking closely, the Punjab........

© Dawn Business