QUETTA, Jun 17 (APP): The Balochistan government on Tuesday unveiled its surplus, relief-oriented and pro-people budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2025-26, with a total outlay of Rs 1028 billion with a surplus of Rs 42 billion.
Presenting the budget before the provincial assembly, Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani said the total volume of
Rs 642 billion is allocated for non-development expenditures and proposed allocating Rs 249.5 billion for Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) for fiscal year 2025-26.
Shoaib Nosherwani said the total estimated expenditures for the next financial year 2025-26 is Rs 986 billion while the volume of current operating expenditure has been dropped from Rs 43 billion to Rs 33 billion.
He said that the government has enhanced the provincial income and set a target to generate Rs 226 billion revenue in upcoming fiscal year.
He said a development grants of Rs 66.5 billion of federal funded projects, and Rs 38 billion as Foreign Projects Assistance (FPA) has been estimated despite the provincial development programme in the financial year 2025-26.
He said under the development budget, Rs 249.5 billion would be spent on about 3633 ongoing schemes and 2550 new development projects where Rs 18 billion had been earmarked for the installation of safe city projects in eight cities in the upcoming financial year 2025-26.
The finance minister said that the allocation of Rs 4.5 billion has been proposed in terms of capital expenditure for the purchase of necessary equipment and machinery which is Rs 6 billion less than from previous year and allocated
Rs 113 billion as grants for departments.
In his budget speech, Minister Shoaib Nosherwani stated that the provincial government had successfully spent the entire development budget for the current fiscal year.
He said education, health, climate change, law and order were among the priorities of the provincial government.
The minister also announced the creation of 4188 contract-base and 1958 regular jobs for the fiscal year 2025-26 to provide employment to the youth of the province.
To improve the economic condition of the employees, the finance minister said that the government has increased 10 percent of the salaries of employees from grade 1 to 22.
Meanwhile, the provincial government announced a 7 percent increase in pensions for retired employees.
The minister emphasized that the budget was developed after thorough consultation with all political parties and is focused on public welfare, development priorities, and financial sustainability.
Shoaib Nosherwani said that the budget is based on the province’s actual needs, economic capacity, and ground realities, aiming to ensure balanced development across both urban and rural areas.
The development budget of Rs 55.19 billion allocated for the Communication and Works Department which is increased of 19 percent from the current year for the construction of roads and upgradation of existing infrastructure.
The government has allocated Rs. 42.78 billion development budget for irrigation sector to boost agriculture and manage
water resources, major investments are being made in dams, canals, and water storage systems.
Nosherwani said that Rs. 24.84 billion allocated for development of education sector- secondary and higher education, to upgrade educational infrastructure, hire teachers, and introduce modern facilities.
The minister said that Rs. 16.15 billion has been allocated in terms of development budget for the upgradation of hospitals, recruitment of medical staff, and procurement of modern healthcare equipment in the next financial year.
For Science and Information Technology department, he said Rs. 12.66 billion has been allocated in financial year, as part of the “Digital Balochistan” vision, the government will promote e-governance, internet access, and tech-driven services.
The finance minister said Rs. 17.16 billion has allocated to provide clean drinking water to the residence of the province, improvement of sewerage, and wastewater management solutions across the province.
For strengthening municipal institutions and resolving local issues efficiently, Shoaib said that Rs. 12.91 billion allocated for Local Government department in the new budget.
During the next financial year 2025-26, an amount of Rs10.17 billion allocated for agriculture to support for farmers through seed, fertilizer, and modern agricultural tools.
It added that Rs 7.84 billion allocated for energy department, focused on energy distribution and installation of renewable energy projects to tackle load-shedding and boost energy reliability.
In the next financial year 2025-26, a total of Rs 567.6 million has been allocated for mines and mineral department to develop Balochistan’s rich mineral resources through modern and efficient methods.
An estimated amount of Rs. 154 million has set for the empowerment of women in areas such as education, healthcare, and economic participation.
