The government has earmarked Rs 240.434 billion in federal budget 2013-14 for subsidies against Rs 208.595 billion allocated in 2012-13 and revised amount of Rs 367.472 billion. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar announced in the National Assembly that subsidies will be overhauled so that it is not enjoyed by rich and poor alike. International financial institutions have already criticised the government for extending untargeted power subsidies.

The page providing details of subsidies in budget documents was blanked out and it is unclear how much has been earmarked for which department or corporation. The head of power sector Tariff Deferential Subsidy (TDS) is completely removed from the budget documents According to budget documents, the government has allocated Rs 30 billion as subsidy to enable TCP to purchase urea under the head of other development expenditure outside PSDP 2013-14 against Rs 26 billion allocated in financial year 2012-13 with only Rs 10 billion released during the entire year.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2013