Budget FY205-26: PKR 1 trillion allocated to PSDP, roads infrastructure in limelight

ISLAMABAD: Speaking on the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) during budget FY2025-26 announcment, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that the “PSDP is an important tool for mobilizing domestic and external financial resources aimed at promoting development in various sectors of the economy. I would like to place its details before the House.”

In his speech in the parliament, he said that keeping in view the current fiscal situation, “the National Economic Council (NEC) has approved a national development expenditure of Rs 4,224 billion for the financial year 2025-26, which includes Rs 1,000 billion Federal PSDP and Rs 2,869 billion Provincial Annual Development Programs (ADPs), in addition to an investment of Rs 355 billion by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) from their own resources.

He added that the focus of the Federal PSDP 2025-26 is on basic infrastructure projects, on which more than 60 per cent of the resources are being spent so that the entire country benefits.

On the other hand, the priority of Provincial ADPs is social sectors for which more than 60 percent of the funds have been allocated. “This trend is a clear evidence of the implementation of the division of responsibilities after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution,” he said.

In addition, an attempt has been made to align the ongoing and new initiatives with national projects such as Uraan Pakistan and the National Economic Transformation Plan based on the “5 Es Program” – exports, e-Pakistan, environment and climate change, energy and infrastructure, and equity and empowerment.

Finance Minister said that the transport Infrastructure is one of the prominent sectors under the 5 Es framework as a key driver for the growth and prosperity of the economy, so to ensure that the goals of Uraan Pakistan and UN SDGs can be achieved, out of the total development expenditure of Rs 1,000 billion, the biggest chunk of Rs 328 billion has been kept for this sector, which will focus on the roads segment.

On the special instructions of the Prime Minister, Rs 100 billion has been allocated for the construction of two lanes of the 813-km long Balochistan Highway 25-N from Karachi to Chaman, which passes through Karachi, Bela, Khuzdar, Kalat, Quetta and Chaman to Afghanistan.

For the completion and connectivity of the North-South Motorway Network, Rs 15 billion has been allocated for the construction of six-lane Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway. Moreover, Rs 7 billion has been allocated for the timely completion of the Thar Coal Rail Connectivity Project.

In the Maritime sector, the project for upgrading the Gaddani Shipbreaking facilities has also been given importance and Rs 1.9 billion has been allocated for it. Support from PSDP for Gwadar Port infrastructure projects has been maintained. Support has also been continued to fill the financial gap for provincial transport projects and significant funds have been allocated for provincial projects.

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