Punjab caretaker govt: Major ‘statistical discrepancy’ identified

ISLAMABAD: A statistical discrepancy of Rs231.352 billion was noted in the fiscal operation (or spending) of the caretaker government of Punjab during the first two quarters (July-December 2023-24) of the ongoing fiscal year.

The consolidated fiscal operation for the first two quarters of the ongoing fiscal year revealed that the statistical discrepancy of Rs114.781 billion of the caretaker government of Punjab during the first quarter (July-September (2023-24) rose to Rs231.352 billion during July-December 2023-24.

The statistical discrepancy of the Sindh government decreased to Rs1.064 billion during the second quarter July-December 2023-24 from Rs8.943 billion during the first quarter July-September 2023-24 of the ongoing fiscal year. The statistical discrepancy of the caretaker government Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) decreased in the second quarter July-December 2023-24 to Rs2.842 billion from Rs30.624 billion during the first quarter of July-September 2023-24 of the current fiscal year.

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The caretaker government of Balochistan’s statistical discrepancy was recorded as negative Rs -70 billion during the second quarter July-December 2023-24 from negative Rs -34.315 billion during July-September 2023-24.

Additionally, of the total Rs289.4 billion provincial budget surplus during the first six months of the ongoing fiscal year, the caretaker government of Punjab has created Rs42.7 billion budget surplus, which was relatively low as compared to other provinces. A provincial surplus of Rs100 billion was created by the caretaker government the Sindh during the first two quarters of the current fiscal year, followed by Rs97.402 billion by the Balochistan caretaker government and Rs49.129 billion by the KPK caretaker government.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024