Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Advisor on Finance Muzammil Aslam said that the province has made history by reducing the debt limit by 50 percent, depositing Rs 160 billion in debt management fund.
Talking to media in Peshawar, the finance advisor said that provincial government has taken two important steps to repay and control the loan, which is unprecedented in the history of Pakistan.
Muzammil Aslam said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has amended the Debt Act to reduce the borrowing limit from 50 per cent. According to him, “no government in the history of Pakistan has ever taken such a step to reduce the debt ceiling”.
After this amendment, the province will now be able to borrow much less than before, which will improve fiscal discipline.
He informed that the second important step was the establishment of a “debt management fund” by the provincial government. According to the finance advisor, the purpose of the fund is to pay off future debt obligations and reduce the financial burden. He said that more than Rs 160 billion has been deposited in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Debt Management Fund today.
Muzammil Aslam expressed hope that the amount of debt management fund will cross Rs 200 billion by the end of the current financial year. He said that “these funds will be used to pay off debts in the future or to start a big mega project”.
The finance adviser criticized the federal government and other provinces and said that in the last two years, when everyone was borrowing, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa preferred financial self-reliance and reduction in debt.
According to him, due to this policy, the province is continuing development projects despite financial difficulties. According to economists, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s debt management fund is a positive step that will help in the financial stability of the province. However, he said it would be important to ensure transparency in the use of the fund so that the public would get benefit directly from it.
Read also: Why Muzamil Aslam mocks Maryam Nawaz?
