According to the pressure from the IMF, there is a possibility of a reduction of 150 to 200 billion rupees in the development budget. According to the details, a meeting of provincial finance ministers was held under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar, in which the Chief Minister of Sindh, federal and provincial treasury secretaries, and planning also participated.
Addressing the meeting, the federal finance minister emphasized the need to eliminate the price difference between the wholesale and retail markets of essential commodities and also gave directions to prioritize government development projects.
On this occasion, the finance minister also issued instructions to improve services in the fields of health and education and urged provincial governments to meet their expenses and targets.
The finance minister stated that there is ample room to reduce expenses, and it has been informed to the provinces regarding the reduction of development budget allocations.
According to sources, the finance minister informed that while considering budget cuts in the development budget, provinces should prioritize their projects because cutting in the development budget is inevitable to achieve deficit reduction goals.