CDA likely to present Rs 30 billion budget

Capital Development Authority (CDA) is likely to present Rs 30 billion budget approximately for the fiscal year 2018-19 against Rs 37.97 billion budget for the outgoing financial year. The CDA sources revealed that the budget is still under consideration and will be presented in the board meeting in June. Two board meetings are expected to take place in which final figures will be decided, however, the meetings have not been scheduled yet.
The CDA had announced Rs 37.97 billion budget with Rs 5.827 billion deficit approximately for the current fiscal year due to the allocation of Rs 5.8 billion to Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad. However, sale of land remained the main source of revenue generation for the CDA.
Sources said a significant portion of the development budget would be spent on priority projects. Moreover, it is also at the government's discretion if it has any allocation for CDA under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).
This year the federal government has also granted Rs 13.8 billion to Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI). The MCI, which represents the 50 union councils of Islamabad, has no funding to run its affairs. The budget will be approved in a CDA board meeting in June that will be chaired by Mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz and CDA Chairman Usman Akhtar Bajwa, and will be passed by the board members.
The budget 2018-19 will be sent to Capital Administration and Development Division for final approval. The CDA spokesperson, while talking to Business Recorder, said that the budget has not been decided finally but it is expected to be around Rs 25-30 billion. He said this time MCI would not be a liability on CDA as the federal government is set to allocate a special grant to it as well in the next budget.
He said there is a small leftover budget which will be added in the next budget as a number of projects are still pending, which will be completed during next fiscal year. The CDA is issuing tender notices frequently to complete some projects, which can be completed before new fiscal year, he added.