The Ministry for Planning and Development released funds for projects in the fourth quarter of the ongoing fiscal year amounting to a total of Rs129 billion on Sunday.

The release of this trance means that a total of Rs600 billion has been released as development funding in the current fiscal year through four quarters, a statement from the ministry said.

The amount is Rs50 billion higher than what was issued last year and the ministry said it had worked hard to achieve this despite the fact that the government is facing a severe crunch.

The released funds include an Rs27 billion allocation for projects in AJK, GB and areas in KP that were formerly known as tribal areas.

The funds include Rs30 billion for the Ministry of Water Resources, Rs22 billion for the Communications Ministry, Rs7 billion for the Higher Education Commission, Rs8 billion for Railways, Rs5 billion for Energy and Rs4 billion for Housing and Works.

The funds issued to the Ministry for Water Resources will be used to fund Mohmand and Bhasha Dam among others. The funding will also enable railways to purchase 320 new carriages and enable the construction of the Karachi coastal power project.

NA Committee to take up election funding

National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance will meet on Monday to discuss the issue of funding for elections in Punjab.

The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that funds for elections should be directly transferred by the State Bank of Pakistan to the Election Commission of Pakistan. The assembly has already passed a resolution rejecting the release of funds.

The committee meeting on Monday will discuss the SC order. Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Law Minister Azam Tarrar have been summoned to the meeting as well as Auditor General and State Bank’s governor.