Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province announces first $6.3 billion budget ahead of federal government
PESHAWAR: Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Friday announced its first-ever federal budget of 1.754 trillion rupees ($6.3 billion), with a senior provincial government official justifying the move on the grounds of the province’s autonomy.
The KP government is led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, whose Islamabad administration was ousted from power in April 2022 following a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.
Since then, the PTI leadership has struggled for political survival, with many of its members, including Khan, serving months in prison on multiple charges. The party is now in opposition at the centre, and its members frequently clash with lawmakers in the finance ministry amid deep polarisation.
Anwar Khan Khattak, spokesman for KP provincial finance minister, told Arab News that each province would be able to submit its own budget after the 18th amendment, which guarantees autonomy to all federal units.
“We’re not in competition with the state or federal government,” he said. “We have our own mandate when it comes to governing, and that’s why we’ve taken the lead in presenting the budget.”
“The state only needs federal assistance to meet its tax revenue targets,” he added.
But Asmat Shah, a Peshawar-based journalist and economic expert, said provinces submit their budgets after the federal government, and if the KP government decides to go the other way, it will only widen the trust gap with the administration in Islamabad.
“The only logic behind KP’s move to present its budget to the federal government is that it wants to show efficiency to its voters,” he alleged. “Secondly, the PTI-led government wants to show the masses that it is not dependent on the federal government to take important decisions.”
Shah criticised the budget itself, saying the state government should have allocated more funds to security, education and health sectors, which have been hit hard by years of extremism in the region.
Earlier, KP Finance Minister Aftab Alam presented the budget in the provincial assembly.
“The total budget amount is Rs 1,754 billion,” he said. “Mr. Speaker, development expenditure plays a leading role in the prosperity of the people and the development of the state. Development expenditure not only improves the standard of living of the people but also creates employment opportunities that link the economy. Rs 4,163 billion ($1.49 billion) has been allocated for development expenditure in the 2024-25 budget.”
Alam also criticised federal authorities for not allocating fair revenue to states.
“Mr Speaker, I would like to state that as a result of the merger of erstwhile tribal districts into KP, the province has a total annual share of Rs262 billion ($940.72 million) in NFC. [National Finance Commission] “KP province has received this award but has actually received only Rs123 billion ($441.64 million),” he added. “Taking this into account, KP province is facing an annual deficit of Rs139 billion ($499.08 million).”
