Balochistan to present budget 2024-25 today

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province is set to present its annual financial budget 2024-25 today, Friday, state-run media confirmed.
State broadcaster Radio Pakistan said Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani will present the budgetary proposals in the provincial assembly at 4:00 p.m.
“Balochistan budget for next fiscal year will be presented in provincial assembly in Quetta on Friday,” Radio Pakistan said.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Quetta on Sunday, Balochistan’s Planning and Development Minister Zahoor Ahmed Buledi and Finance Minister Nosherwani announced that employee salaries would see a 25 percent increase for grades 1 to 16, a 20 percent increase for grades 17 to 22, and a 15 percent increase in pensions in the upcoming budget.
Both ministers said the budget layout would exceed Rs850 billion while the federal budget allocated Rs58 billion for the southwestern province under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) head for the upcoming fiscal year.
Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province, which shares porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran, has been wracked by an insurgency launched by ethnic Baloch militants for decades.
Baloch nationalists have long accused the Pakistani government of monopolizing profits from Balochistan’s abundant natural resources, saying it has led to political marginalization and economic exploitation.
However, Pakistani administrations have denied these allegations, citing several development initiatives launched in the province to improve local living conditions.