KARACHI: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province remained efficient in hold back its revenues more than double after expenditures in the first half of financial year 2013-14 (1H FY14).
According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)’s second quarterly report 2013-14, quoting Ministry of Finance it showed KP government’s overall revenues after spending stood at Rs 32.8 billion in the first half of 2013-14 as against Rs 11.9 billion in the corresponding period of previous financial year.
Province-wise report shows Balochistan government revenues after expenditure stood at Rs 34 billion in 1H FY14 as compared to Rs 18.5 billion registered in the same period of previous fiscal year.
The revenues of Sindh government stood at Rs 44 billion in 1H FY14 as against Rs 45.6 billion registered in the same period last financial year. Whereas revenues after expenditure maintained by Punjab government stood at Rs 53.9 billion in 1H FY14 as against Rs 66.4 billion of previous financial year.
The overall revenues stood after expenditure of four provinces stood at Rs 164.7 billion in 1H FY14 as against Rs 142.3 billion in 1H FY13, showing a growth of 15.7 percent year-on-year (YoY) bases.
The overall revenues collected by four provinces stood at Rs 800.1 billion in 1H FY14 against Rs 740.9 billion in FY13. On the other hand, the expenditure of four provinces stood at Rs 635.4 billion in 1H FY14 as compared to Rs 598.6 billion in 1H FY13.
The consolidated financial position of the provinces has been improving since the devolution of powers to collect sales tax (ST) on services. In FY12, Sindh started ST collection followed by Punjab in FY13 and KP in FY14, SBP report said.
Resultantly, the consolidated provincial surplus has grown significantly from FY12 onwards. During H1 FY14, following an increase in federal transfers and a 23.9 percent increase in tax collections, provincial surpluses posted a 15.8 percent growth over the same period last year.
Notwithstanding, this increase, the expenditure side is a bit disconcerting due to a 23.3 percent YoY decline in the development expenditures. This can improve as the year progresses and the impact of last year’s election related spending wears off.
In terms of individual performances, Punjab posted the largest growth in expenditures with Rs 295 billion, followed by Sindh with spending stood at Rs 186 billion during H1 FY14 compared to the same period last year.
