The Ministry of Planning-run Systems Applications and Products (SAP) – the financial accounting and reporting software – showed that Rs680 billion was spent under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) during fiscal year 2020-21, which was higher than the Rs650 billion approved by the National Assembly.
On the other hand, the finance ministry’s provisional figures suggested PSDP expenditures of close to Rs670 billion. Sources told The Express Tribune that after seeing huge savings against the approved development budget, the government just before the close of the fiscal year decided to divert funds towards agencies that had either pending liabilities or needed funds for ongoing projects.
These included the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) liabilities and financing requirements of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).
As against the allocation of Rs23 billion, the government gave Rs72.4 billion for development expenditures to the PAEC – the entity running civilian nuclear power projects, according to data by the planning and development ministry.
The revised budget was Rs49.5 billion or 215% higher than the original allocation.
