Govt. opens purse to appease allies

ISLAMBAD: In total disregard for the evolving flood catastrophe, the government has included four dozen new projects worth Rs78 billion in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) seemingly to appease the coalition partners and diverted Rs23 billion to finance these schemes.
The PML-N-led coalition government rushed through the approval process – a prerequisite to release funds for these 47 schemes – after the bureaucracy at the planning and development ministry refused to give funds in the absence of regulatory cover.
This comes at a time when floods have caused an estimated $11 billion to over $12 billion losses to the economy, including infrastructure.
The government has secured the approval of the majority of the members of the National Economic Council (NEC) through circulation of a summary last month and is now in the process of printing a new PSDP book, according to the sources and official documents.
“The Prime Minister/Chairman National Economic Council has been pleased to approve the proposal contained in para 6 of the summary of the Cabinet Division dated 12 August, 2022 read with para 7 of the summary dated 25th July, 2022, submitted by Ministry of Planning, Development & Special Initiatives titled Final PSDP 2022-23 in Light of NEC directions”, the documents read.The NEC – the constitutional body having mandate to approve national economic and development framework – gave its stamp of approval through a circular few days ago, but without discussing the schemes in a regular meeting.-PNP