All four provinces seemed to have hopped on the growth bandwagon while ensuring relief for the people
All the four provincial budgets are out — and two have also been passed. One thing that stands out this year is that all four provinces seemed to have hopped on the growth bandwagon, with exceptional growth in the budget envelope, all the while trying to provide as much relief to the public as possible.
Balochistan seems to be the most ignored among the provinces as it has only increased its budget envelope slightly, close to 5%, due to unknown reasons. But Punjab, Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have increased this year’s budget by 16, 23, and 41%, respectively, compared to revised estimates of 2021-22.
Let’s dig deeper.
Geo.tv has used three lenses to review these budgets, namely development expenditure, education spending allocations, and health sector expenditure.
At the time of writing this article, Balochistan’s budget was not available on the website.
Budget outlay | |||
Province | Budget Estimate2021-22 | Budget Estimate2022-23 | Percentage change |
| Sindh | Rs1,431 billion | Rs1,764 billion | +23.27% |
| Punjab | Rs2,780 billion | Rs3,226 billion | +16.04% |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Rs941.8 billion | Rs1,332 billion | +41.43% |
| Balochistan | Rs584.08 billion | Rs612 billion | +4.78% |
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has introduced a generous health budget with a whopping increase of over 91% keeping in view the deteriorating health conditions in the province. However, despite the below-average medical facilities in Balochistan, the provincial government slashed the health budget by 24%.
Health | ||||
Province | Budget Estimate 2021-22 | Revised Estimate | Budget Estimate 2022-23 | Percentage change |
| Sindh | Rs175.17 billion | Rs186.73 billion | Rs198.94 billion | +6.5% |
| Punjab | Rs175.64 billion | Rs162.91 billion | Rs188.91 billion | +15.95% |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Rs86.3 billion | Rs84.1 billion | Rs161.16 billion | +91.62% |
| Balochistan | Rs56.58 billion | -- | Rs43 billion | -24% |
| *Comparison of all provinces is made with the revised estimates 2021-22; however, Balochistan’s budget estimate 2022-23 has been compared with budget estimate 2021-22 as the official document isn’t available | ||||
Meanwhile, the two most discussed provinces Sindh and Punjab allocated minor chunks of their budget on health, up only 6.5% and 15.95%, respectively.
Like health, the allocation for education in Balochistan is not even 1% of the budget outlay. Meanwhile, the rest of the three provinces have decided to increase their spending on education from nearly 15% to 37%.
Education | ||||
Province | Budget Estimate 2021-22 | Revised Estimate | Budget Estimate 2022-23 | Percentage change |
| Sindh | Rs271.43 billion | Rs234.75 billion | Rs296.85 billion | +26.45% |
| Punjab | Rs77.18 billion | Rs77.49 billion | Rs88.57 billion | +14.29% |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Rs46.62 billion | Rs40.59 billion | Rs55.69 billion | +37.2% |
| Balochistan | Rs82.92 billion | -- | Rs83 billion | +0.09% |
| *Comparison of all provinces is made with the revised estimates 2021-22; however, Balochistan’s budget estimate 2022-23 has been compared with budget estimate 2021-22 as the official document isn’t available | ||||
The highest allocation has been made by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the ongoing fiscal year.
Development — the most eyed budget allocation — has always been the top priority of all provinces and while Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa generously allocated major shares of their total budget outlays for developmental projects, Punjab only raised the budget by 5.73%.
Development | ||||
Province | Budget Estimate 2021-22 | Revised Estimate | Budget Estimate 2022-23 | Percentage change |
| Sindh | Rs329.03 billion | Rs269.63 billion | Rs459.65 billion | +70.47% |
| Punjab | Rs560 billion | Rs647.86 billion | Rs685 billion | +5.73% |
| Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Rs371.07 billion | Rs253.3 billion | Rs418.15 billion | +65.08% |
| Balochistan | Rs237.22 billion | -- | Rs191 billion | -19.48% |
| *Comparison of all provinces is made with the revised estimates 2021-22; however, Balochistan’s budget estimate 2022-23 has been compared with budget estimate 2021-22 as the official document isn’t available | ||||
And Balochistan, surprisingly, reduced its development spending by over 19%.
The Punjab government has also approved a 30% increase in the salaries of government employees — which is the highest among the provinces — along with a 15% hike in pension. Meanwhile, the Sindh government has approved 20% increase in the salaries of government employees along with a 5% increase in pensions.
In line with the other provinces, Balochistan also announced a 15% increase in both salaries of public sector employees and pensions. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government announced an increase of 16% increase in salaries and a 15% increase in pensions.
Going forward, however, the ultimate test of these budgets would be how well they are executed by the respective provinces.