The Annual Plan Coordination Committee (APCC) approved Rs 900 billion development budget for the next fiscal year which is 38% higher compared with the ongoing one.
A total of Rs 250 billion has been added to the amount earmarked in the last budget of Rs 650 billion for the ongoing fiscal year.
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In the development budget of the current fiscal year, Rs 383 billion have been earmarked for infrastructure, while for the next year Rs 502 billion will be reserved for the same.
In the next budget, the amount kept for communication and roads is being increased to Rs 265 billion from Rs 197 billion.
It will also include more than Rs 100 billion in foreign aid for development projects and various donors such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) are going to pool in the aid.
The volume of the development budget for energy projects in the current financial year was Rs 79 billion, which will be increased to Rs 103 billion in the next fiscal year.
For the social sector, Rs 132 billion has been allocated in the ongoing financial year while Rs 302 billion will be allocated for the sector in the next one.
Apart from this, Rs 28 billion will be earmarked for health projects, Rs 5.128 billion for education and training, Rs 37 billion for Higher Education Commission (HEC), Rs 15.261 billion for environment, Rs 5.139 billion for manpower and employment and Rs 74 billion for sustainable development goals (SDGs).
Further, Rs 41 billion are reserved for housing and physical planning development projects.
For the development of undeveloped areas, the government has earmarked funds under different packages in the next budget.
The Karachi Transformation Plan is part of this, including South Balochistan Development Plan and Gilgit-Baltistan’s Economic and Social Development Plan.
In the development budget for the next financial year, Rs 54 billion have been earmarked for the erstwhile tribal areas, Rs 45 billion for Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), and Rs 34 billion for the development of underdeveloped areas.