Islamabad: The details of the expenditure in excess of the approved budget made by various ministries during the financial years 2024-25 and 2023-24 were presented in the National Assembly, according to which a total of Rs 712 billion 412.674 billion was spent in the last 2 years.
According to the documents presented in the meeting, during the financial year 2024-25, which will end on June 30, 2025, various ministries incurred a total of Rs 343 billion in additional expenditure.
The most prominent among these ministries is the Power Division, which spent Rs 129.59 billion in excess, while the Ministry of Defense spent Rs 61 billion, the FBR spent Rs 6.99 billion and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting spent Rs 2 billion.
In the same fiscal year, the Interior Ministry spent Rs 10 billion more, Pakistan Post spent Rs 6 billion, the Food Security Ministry spent Rs 1.99 billion more, and the Health Ministry spent Rs 24 billion more.
During the last fiscal year 2023-24, various ministries spent a total of Rs 369 billion more than the budget. These include Rs 600 million for the Airport Security Forces, Rs 4.86 billion for the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, and more than Rs 42 billion for the Ministry of Defense.
In addition, more than Rs 7.66 billion was spent on pensions and allowances, while the expenses of the Interior Ministry exceeded Rs 17 billion.
It was informed in the National Assembly session that the process of approving supplementary grants is now being started for these additional expenses incurred in excess of the budget during these two fiscal years, and the approval of these expenses has been formally sought in today’s session.
These details not only raise questions about financial discipline but also indicate a trend of deviation from the spending policies and budgets of federal departments, which is leading experts to emphasize the need for further measures for transparency and financial accountability.