Govt Recklessly Breaches IMF Limit on Funding of Parliamentarian Schemes

The federal government has nearly tripled funding for parliamentarians’ schemes under the Sustainable Development Goals Achievement Program (SAP) this month despite prior requests by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to save money in this category. The funds sanctioned by the government totaled Rs. 48.3 billion and breached the Ministry of Finance’s ceiling by Rs. 19 billion, reported Express Tribune. Despite the Finance Division’s move to limit budget releases to 60 percent of annual allocations for the July-March period, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal approved an additional Rs. 18.4 billion on January 17 after initially releasing Rs. 12.5 billion four days earlier, bringing the total disbursed funds to Rs. 48.3 billion. This has breached the Rs. 29 billion limit set for Q1-Q3 FY2024-25. The Cabinet Division had requested additional allocations. Allied political parties reportedly pushed for more development activities in their constituencies which has been callously endorsed by the authorities. The budgetary strain as a result of this funding spree has made overall financing requirements complicated. It bears mentioning that the federal development budget was reduced by Rs. 300 billion to Rs. 1.1 trillion in the FY25 budget to offset electricity subsidies and other deficits.