The absence of appropriate funding has caused the 94 development projects that are presently under way in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to be delayed. These projects are expected to cost approximately Rs. 911.5 billion in total.
These 94 projects were given a development budget of Rs. 49.74 billion for the current fiscal year. Nevertheless, just Rs. 6.29 billion has been made available for 42 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa projects.
Official documentation states that 15 NAH development projects are now without funding. Nine development projects from the Housing and Works Division, three schemes from the Establishment Division, and two uplift projects from the Communication Division have also been impacted.
Even though Rs. 300 million was allocated, no money has been found for a project to look for uranium reserves in Bannu and Kohat.
In the meantime, the Divisions of Information and Interior, Power, Revenue, Water Resources, and Science and Technology have all seen some setbacks.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Pakistan had previously made “significant” progress in their negotiations since the federal government would not propose a mini-budget.
“No mini-budget is anticipated, and Pakistan’s tax collection target of Rs 12.97 trillion will remain unchanged,” according to sources with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The IMF was pleased with the tax reforms the Pakistani government was implementing, they noted.
The general sales tax (GST) will not be applied to petroleum items by the FBR, according to sources.
The tax-to-GDP ratio has increased from 8.8% to 10.3%, according to FBR sources, and merchants have paid Rs 12 billion in taxes in just three months. The number of registered traders has grown from 200,000 to 600,000, and 400,000 additional traders have filed tax returns, they noted.
