Wednesday, 16 June 1999

Pakistan’s PMO expenses exceed Budget allocation

Islamabad: Even in a year of financial crisis, the expenses of the prime minister’s office in Pakistan exceeded budgetary allocation by 52 per cent.
According to government estimates, the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s office has spent Rs 149.69 million in the current financial year, which ends on June 30, though the allocation was just Rs 98.46 million.
In the budget for the next financial year that was presented last week, allocation for the prime minister’s office has been increased to Rs 162.22 million.
The expenses of the Ehtesab (Accountability) Bureau have been included in the expenditure of the prime minister’s office in 1998-99. The bureau costs the public exchequer Rs 4.35 million, including the salaries of 10 officers and 58 other employees. In the proposed budget for 1999-2000, Rs 11.50 million has been allocated for the bureau.
The Prime Minister’S Office overshot its allocation in a year when the budgets of all ministries and government departments were slashed across the board due to the financial crisis triggered by sanctions following the 1998 nuclear tests.
The ministries of social and human development were also not spared from cuts. The allocation for the education ministry was slashed by Rs 15.06 million.
Funds of federal government-run educational institutions was reduced by Rs 19.54 million from the original allocation of Rs 639.14 million. The ministry of local government and rural development’s budget was cut by Rs 10.22 million from Rs 82.46 million.
An amount of Rs 99.846 million had been allocated to ministry of food, agriculture and livestock, but it received only Rs 84.25 million. The allocation for research in agriculture was slashed from Rs 341.804 million last year to Rs 308.624 million in 1998-99.
Funds of the health ministry were also not spared. Out of a total allocation of Rs 95.586 million, it was given only Rs 78.661 million. The allocations for medical services and public health were slashed by Rs 98.625 million and Rs 24.297 million respectively. (India Abroad News Service)