Quetta, Sunday, June 23 2024 – Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) in collaboration with the Mustehkam Parlimaan (MuP) project successfully organized a technical assistance session on the State of the Economy and the Annual Budget 2024-25 in Quetta on Sunday, 23rd June 2024. This session brought together over 60 participants that included 26 Hon. Members of the Provincial Assembly chaired by Honourable Speaker, Mr. Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai and Deputy Speaker, Ms. Ghazala Gola Begum. The staff of the assembly secretariat, civil society and key experts to deliberated on key economic challenges and budgetary processes with reference to the Province of Balochistan.
Mr. Muhammad Rizwan Manzoor, Incharge Budget & economy desk at the PIPS Research Wing, outlined the session’s agenda and moderated the discussions. In the opening remarks, Mr. Aizaz Asif, Senior Advisor for Public Financial Management and Public Policy at MuP, welcomed all the Members thanking them for actively showing interest in the event despite the busy schedules.
In Inaugural Address, the Honourable Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan Mr. Abdul Khaliq Khan Achakzai expressed gratitude to the Pakistan Institute for Parliamentary Services (PIPS) and Mustehkam Parlimaan project (MuP) for organizing the budget orientation session. He urged all members to attend the session with full concentration, highlighting its significance for their collective benefit.
Key themes included an examination of the Rules of Procedures of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan regarding budget processes, presented by Mr. Tahir Shah Kakar, the Secretary of Provincial Assembly of Balochistan. This was followed by an absorbing session on Reading and Analyzing the Budget Books, facilitated by Mr. Muhammad Adnan Azeem, Director Finance Division. Professor Dr. Wasim Shahid Malik, PIPS Adjunct Faculty and the former State Bank of Pakistan Chair, addressed the key challenges facing Pakistan’s economy and their impact on the budget and economy of Balochistan. He also highlighted the critical aspects of the Balochistan Budget 2024-25, presented by Balochistan Finance Minister, Mir Shoaib Nosherwani. Mr. Ahsen Achakzai, Assistant Professor at BUITEMS presented the picture of Balochistan economy and a detailed analysis of last ten provincial budgets, drawing the relationship between the two, and suggesting a set of policy recommendations for budget making and economic uplift of the province. This was followed by an in-depth analysis of budget processes and National Finance Commission (NFC) resource distribution by Mr. Aizaz Asif, Senior Advisor for Public Financial Management and Public Policy at MuP.
The discussion also touched upon the key contours of provincial consolidated fund, public debt, the rise in the NFC award of the province, the importance of supplementary grants, and the correlation between economic and political stability, stressing the need for constitutional supremacy. The session proceedings were inclusive and interactive where Hon. MPAs asked key questions regarding on different aspects of the budget and economy.