Delay in payments to be taken up with centre, says CM.

PESHAWAR -- Caretaker Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Azam Khan on Wednesday said he would speak to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's administration about a delay in payments to the province.

'Financial matters of the province related to the federation will be taken up at the federal level. Every possible effort will be made to get the due rights and share of the province [in resources],' Mr Khan told a meeting at the Chief Minister's House here, according to an official statement.

The participants included chief secretary Dr Shehzad Bangash, additional chief secretary Ikramullah, principal secretary to the chief minister Amjad Ali Khan, and officials of the finance and planning departments.

The chief minister also ordered the implementation of the government's austerity policy saying the government is in no position to afford unnecessary and unjustified use of available resources.

Orders austerity steps saying govt can't afford unjustified use of resources

Officials told him that the provincial government faced problems due to a delay in the release of funds under various heads by the federal government besides the nonpayment of net hydel profit by the federal government.

They said the centre owed billions of rupees to the province but their payment was delayed adversely affecting development and public welfare activities in the province, especially in tribal districts.

The participants discussed various matters about the current economic conditions and financial situation of the province with a special focus on the budgeted transfers withheld by the federal government.

The meeting was told that the federal government had allocated a grant of Rs60 billion only for newly-merged tribal districts for the fiscal year 2022-23 against the minimum current budget requirement of Rs89.5...