General elections: Ministry of Finance releases Rs17.4bn to ECP

The Ministry of Finance has released Rs17.4 billion to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for holding general elections in Pakistan that are scheduled for February 8, 2024, the Finance Division stated on Tuesday.

“Finance Division has released Rs17.4 billion to the ECP in addition to Rs10 billion released in July 2023 for conduct of general elections in the country,” read the statement.

This brings the total released amount to Rs27.4 billion for holding general elections, the statement read.

“Finance Division remains committed to provision of funds as and when required by the Election Commission of Pakistan” it added.

The clarification comes a day after Finance Secretary Imdad Ullah Bosal on Monday assured the ECP that the Finance Ministry would release all the required funds within the next two days for general elections.

Speaking to the media at the ECP after the meeting, Bosal said that the Finance Ministry would ensure that the funds were issued in the next two days.

Bosal said the ECP wrote to the Finance Ministry on November 14 over the non-provision of funds and the related letter reached the ministry on November 18.

As per reports, Rs42 billion have been allocated for general elections in the current federal budget 2023-24 but the Finance Ministry, so far, has released only Rs10 billion to the ECP.

Earlier this year in March, the ECP had told Finance Ministry officials it needed a total of Rs65 billion to hold general polls in the country.

In the meeting, Finance Ministry officials told the commission that it was difficult to provide the required funds to the poll body against the backdrop of the “challenging economic situation” the country was faced with.