One one hand Sharif family has this policy of loans and subsidies, and on the other hand they are spending whatever little money we have available like crazy.
Sharifiay spent trillions in unforeseen expenditures last year. This is the out of budget expense. And it is 3 times more than how much Pakistan government spent one year earlier. And where would the largest chunk of these extra-budget expenditures go? To repay DOMESTIC DEBT.
This happened due to poor fiscal management and economy policy, and exuberant personal expenses of Sharifiay.
And yet people expect miracles from these Sharifia monkeys.
‘Austere’ govt splashed out trillions on supplementary expenditure - Newspaper - DAWN.COM](http://www.dawn.com/news/1111092/austere-govt-splashed-out-trillions-on-supplementary-expenditure)
ISLAMABAD: With the National Assembly expected to adopt next year’s budget on June 20, the government will also be seeking approval for an unprecedented supplementary expenditure of about Rs5.677 trillion for the current fiscal year because of huge expenditure overruns, diversions and higher-than-budgeted debt servicing.
According to budgetary documents placed before parliament, an extraordinary Rs4.73tr worth of regular supplementary grants are being sought for appropriation which have an additional burden on the budget.
Last year, the government had got approved from the parliament a supplementary budget of Rs1.44tr — which meant the reappropriations of funds and supplementary grants have increased by three times in just one year.
“Supplementary demands for grants and appropriations” tabled before the parliament suggest that the largest chunk of Rs4.667tr would be rolled over for repayment of domestic debt as regular supplementary grant. Another Rs44-billion supplementary grant for the current year pertains to servicing of domestic debt and another Rs16.9bn for other additional expenditures.
The Ministry of Finance in its written statement said the regular supplementary grants were meant “to provide for expenditure for purposes that were not foreseen at the time of finalisation of demands for grants. Such supplementary grants put additional burden on the budget”. Strangely enough, the ministry could not foresee a huge expenditure of Rs4.667tr only 11 months ago.
In addition to the above, the government would also seek approval for technical supplementary grants worth Rs946bn which meant these would have no additional impact on budget since relevant ministries and institutions would be surrendering funds from one head to another account or adjustment within the public sector development programme.
Under the same head, the government is seeking supplementary approval for Rs158 million worth of international aid from UN missions and other aid agencies and Rs370m on account of Prime Minister’s Balochistan Earthquake Relief Fund 2013.
Most of these supplementary grants are described as charged expenditure out of the federal consolidated fund which is presented to parliament just for information and taken as approved without voting. Simply put, parliament cannot reject it because the amount has already been consumed.
When asked at a post-budget press conference as to why the government was seeking huge supplementary grants despite its stated policy of austerity, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said these supplementary grants were mostly of technical nature and only Rs65bn or so had additional financial impact.
However, a closer look suggests interesting expenditures for extravagant purposes. For example, Rs1.54bn supplementary expenditure was made by the cabinet division to purchase two BMW-76Li High Security Sedans and appropriate security apparatus for the VVIP and to train intelligence bureau officials.
An additional Rs64m was made on purchase of new furniture for parliament lodges. Likewise, another supplementary grant of Rs69m is being sought for garden of the prime minister’s secretariat, staff and household and conveyance cars, etc.
A supplementary grant of Rs14bn is being made for Pakistan Post office and restoration of GPO Building at Murree; Rs66m would be reappropriated as assistance to Cadet College Hassan Abdal; and Rs2.5bn to buy helicopters for Pakistan Rangers, Pakistan Ordnance factory and other expenses.
Another Rs1.4bn would be utilised for a donation to Sultana Foundation, advertisements and publicity, video conferencing facilities and rent of residential buildings.
An amount of Rs500m would be required for injecting into the First Women Bank under the dictates of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to meet minimum capital requirements of the State Bank, and Rs2.9bn as payment of charges to currency dealers and banks for home remittances.
An additional allocation of Rs29bn had been sought for Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) for increased tariff subsidy not envisioned at the time of budget making.
A major part of expenditure overrun was to some extent unavoidable, given the overall economic condition, deterioration of public sector companies and poor fiscal management. However,** the government could have avoided expenditures on extravagant publicity, and travelling and medical allowances of ministers, advise**rs and top bureaucrats.
About Rs143m was spent for payment of advertisement campaign on PM’s Youth Programme. Another Rs195m was spent on account of ministry of interior for purchase of six sniffer dogs for security duties at prime minister’s house and compensation to victims of suicidal attack at district courts in Islamabad, etc.
An amount of Rs7.8m was spent on arrangement for special court constituted to try former president Pervez Musharraf at National Library Building, Islamabad. Another Rs352m was spent to train pilots abroad for carrying out VVIP mission on helicopters and their ground support equipment.
Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2014
