Balochistan presents its largest-ever Rs1.028 trillion surplus budget

QUETTA: The Balochistan government on Tuesday presented its largest-ever Rs1.028 trillion surplus budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, allocating Rs240 billion for development programmes and Rs642 billion for non-development expenditures.

Provincial Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani, while presenting the budget in the Balochistan Assembly, said the government had achieved significant milestones in a short span of time. The current year’s development budget had been fully utilised, resulting in visible improvements across the province, he added.

The minister detailed that in the ongoing fiscal year, 21% of the development budget was allocated to roads, 18% to irrigation, 13% to education, 8% to healthcare, and 2.3% to energy.

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Over Rs32 billion were spent on improving the education sector and more than Rs46 billion on clean water access, dam construction, and related projects.

Nosherwani announced that the budget would run a surplus of Rs36.5 billion, focusing on development, health and education.

Education

Terming education a top priority, Nosherwani said 1,170 contract and 67 regular positions had been created this fiscal year. Rs28 billion were allocated for early childhood and school education, with a further Rs6.7 billion in grants provided under the Global Partnership for Education.

For the fiscal year 2025-26, over 1,200 new positions will be created. The school education department has been allocated Rs19.8 billion in development and Rs101 billion in non-development funds. Higher education and technical education received Rs22.81 billion this year, with the university budget doubled for the coming year.

He said the government plans to allocate Rs5 billion for college sector development and Rs24 billion for non-development. Rs1 billion has been proposed to operationalise the Mir Chakar Khan University sub-campus.

Health

He informed the assembly that for the health sector, Rs16.4 billion has been earmarked under development and Rs71 billion under non-development expenditure.  Additionally, Rs4 billion has been allocated for the province’s health card scheme.

Food and Agriculture

Recognising agriculture as the backbone of the provincial economy, the minister added, the budget sets aside Rs10 billion for agricultural development and Rs16.77 billion for non-development use.

For the food department, Rs26.9 million will go to development projects, with Rs1.19 billion for operational costs, he added.

Law and order

Maintaining law and order was highlighted as essential for Balochistan’s progress. The finance minister said Rs83.7 billion would be allocated to security agencies under non-development expenditure, with Rs3 billion for development purposes.

Local government and rural development

The local government and rural development department has been allocated Rs12.9 billion for development and Rs42 billion for non-development spending.

Infrastructure

The communication and works department has been allocated Rs66.8 billion in development and Rs17.48 billion in non-development funds.

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The finance minister said the province had achieved significant developmental progress and expressed hope that the new budget would continue to uplift public services and infrastructure.