Joint Co-operation Committee (JCC) of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) co-chaired by Wang Xiaotao, Vice Chairman of National Development and Reform Commission and Ahsan Iqbal, Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms expressed satisfaction over the progress achieved so far and emphasised the need to expedite work on key projects like Gwadar and those relating to the establishment of industrial zones. Projects with national implications include construction of Diamer-Bhasha dam with Ahsan Iqbal releasing a video statement correctly contending that the dam's speedy construction would be critical in our ability to deal with "a very severe water crisis". Mass transit for all four provinces requiring feasibility studies was agreed to be included in the CPEC which effectively implies approval of Karachi Circular Railway and Orange Line Train for all the four provincial capitals.

Four new projects were also added to the CPEC: (i) Peshawar-Karachi railway line project at a cost of 8.8 billion dollars with China expected to provide 5.5 billion dollars; (ii) Khuzdar-Basima road project at a cost of 200 million dollars; (iii) Dera Ismail Khan-Zhob project (western route) at a cost of 800 million dollars; and (iv) Thakot-Havelian (eastern route) project.

There was a nation-wide consensus that the CPEC can be a game-changer and the only impediment were concerns by those provinces where PML-N was not in government that the selected projects were Punjab-specific. It is therefore heartening to note that those concerns have been finally dealt with as a meaningful effort was clearly visible during the recent JCC meeting to take account of the project needs of the smaller provinces.

In this context, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah highlighted the importance of developing a port in Keti Bandar, which could serve as an appropriate location for a power park run on coal from Thar and setting up industrial/economic zones in Dhabeji and Keti Bandar. The JCC's positive response to these proposals was evident from the request to Sindh government to carry out detailed feasibility studies. The Balochistan government too expressed its satisfaction over the decisions taken in the JCC meeting and noted that out of 30 projects, a significant number, notably 12, relate to Balochistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government too expressed satisfaction at the outcome of the JCC meeting.

However, while Ahsan Iqbal and the provincial governments have successfully negotiated enhancement of the CPEC during the recent JCC meeting - from 46 billion dollars to 54 billion dollars - yet all CPEC projects have a local component which unfortunately was simply not budgeted for in the current fiscal year. In 2016-17, Ishaq Dar, the federal finance minister, budgeted only 130 billion rupees for the CPEC, according to documents which were presented in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Planning, Development and Reforms - an amount that is grossly insufficient to meet the local component required. This situation needs to be rectified. Dar has been focusing on bringing the deficit to sustainable levels, an objective that one can support, however, Business Recorder has repeatedly urged him not to inordinately focus on deficit reduction but to strike a balance between deficit reduction and growth. That balance remains absent in the current year's budget.