NEC to unveil budget targets on June 3.

ISLAMABAD -- The federal government has called the meetings of the Annual Planning Coordination Committee (APCC) and National Economic Council (NEC) on June 2 and 3, respectively, to finalise the development programme and set targets for the macroeconomic indicators for 2023-24.

The 13-member NEC led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is the country's highest forum of the federation on economic decision-making. It also includes four federal ministers - Ishaq Dar and Ahsan Iqbal of PMLN, Syed Naveed Qamar of PPP and Asad Mahmood of JUIF. Eight provincial members of the council include four chief ministers besiAdes Punjab's minister for energy S.M. Tanveer, Sindh Senator Nisar Khuhro, KP's adviser energy Himayatullah Khan and Balochistan's finance minister Noor Muhammad Dummar.

The APCC led by federal minister for planning and development Ahsan Iqbal and comprising provincial ministers for finance and development would review the development activities during the current fiscal year that was marred by diversion of funds from various infrastructure projects to discretionary spending on smaller schemes recommended by the parliamentarians, financial cuts amid growing fiscal deficit and a struggling IMF programme.

It would also firm up the next year's development programme that could touch Rs1tr despite just Rs900bn ceiling indicated by the Ministry of Finance and would also review macroeconomic indicators for the outgoing year and recommend to the NEC the sectoral targets for the next fiscal year, envisaging little over 3pc growth rate against a dismal performance of just 0.3pc of GDP during the current fiscal year. The provinces would indicate their development targets for the next year to the APCC and the NEC.

Rs1tr allocation likely for PSDP

The sources said a couple of pre-APCC meetings and consultative sessions between the ministries of finance and planning had been scheduled over the next couple of days including over the weekend. The Economic Survey 2022-23 is tentatively scheduled for June 8 to be followed by an announcement of the federal budget on June 9.

Beginning June 12, the caretaker provincial governments would...