PESHAWAR (Muhammad Ijaz Afridi): The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has fallen short of expectations regarding development funding in the first half of the current fiscal year. Out of a total development budget of Rs 407 billion, the government spent only Rs 87 billion, despite the finance department releasing over Rs 155 billion to various provincial departments.
Progress on development projects throughout the province has been slow, raising serious questions about the government’s performance. Notably, the provincial government allocated Rs 139 billion specifically for tribal districts under the Annual Development Program (ADP), of which Rs 46.16 billion was released, and only Rs 28.84 billion was spent.
According to available data, during the first half of the fiscal year 2025-26, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government released Rs 155 billion from the total budget of Rs 407 billion. However, various provincial departments only utilised Rs 87 billion of these funds, which constitutes just 21.4 per cent of the total development budget. In contrast, the Finance Department had released 38.1 per cent of the total budget in the last two quarters of this fiscal year.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Finance Department allocated Rs 10.56 billion for the agriculture sector this year. During the first half of the year, they released Rs 5.5 billion, but the Agriculture Department only managed to spend Rs 2.52 billion. Similarly, over Rs 11 billion was allocated for the Primary and Secondary Education Department, from which the Finance Department released more than Rs 8 billion, yet only Rs 5.22 billion was spent.
Documents indicate that Rs 27.26 billion was set aside for the Energy and Power Department, with Rs 4.8 billion released; however, only Rs 1.48 billion was spent in the first two quarters. For the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department, out of Rs 34.53 billion allocated, only Rs 6.91 billion was spent, while Rs 12.91 billion was released for development projects in health.
In the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Department, only Rs 754.1 million out of an allocation of Rs 5.67 billion was spent, raising concerns about the department’s performance.
Furthermore, Rs 10.72 billion was allocated for clean drinking water projects, but only Rs 2.70 billion was spent, despite the Finance Department releasing Rs 3.62 billion for this purpose. In multi-sector development, Rs 51.02 billion was allocated, out of which more than Rs 37 billion was released; however, only Rs 12.43 billion was utilised.
For urban development, Rs 7.83 billion was spent out of an allocation of Rs 26.48 billion. In terms of road construction, Rs 87.50 billion was allocated, with Rs 22.34 billion spent, while the Finance Department released Rs 9.40 billion for road projects.
In the fiscal year 2025-26, the Higher Education Department received Rs 4.77 billion for development projects, with Rs 1.82 billion spent so far. The situation in the tribal districts mirrors that of the settled districts. According to the Finance Department’s data, Rs 139 billion were allocated for tribal areas, of which Rs 46.16 billion was released, but only Rs 28 billion was spent.
These figures raise serious concerns about the provincial government’s performance and highlight fears that if development spending does not accelerate, many crucial projects in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa may not be completed this year.
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