The Finance Ministry on Wednesday urged the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to defer the demand for a supplementary grant of Rs 20 billion and an additional grant of Rs 14 billion, citing the country’s critical economic condition.
The Finance Ministry responded to ECP’s demand for a supplementary grant of Rs 20 billion for by-elections to 93 National Assembly seats and an additional grant of over Rs 14 billion for the upcoming Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab elections.
In response, the finance ministry said the country’s economy was in a bad shape, and requested the ECP to postpone the demand for additional supplementary grants in the larger national interest.
“The demand for additional supplementary grant should be deferred until the economic situation of the country improves,” the letter read.
The ECP had initially requested a grant of Rs 52 billion for election expenses. However, on the request of the Ministry of Finance, the amount was reduced to 47 billion rupees.
According to the decision of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), an amount of 5 billion rupees has been released, while the process of issuing another tranche of 10 billion rupees is in progress.
The finance ministry has sought details of expenditure and foreign exchange requirements from the ECP. “The Election Commission should provide details of items exempted from austerity measures,” the finance ministry said.
“The government is facing an unprecedented economic crisis and fiscal deficit, in which case it will have to provide funds for flood-affected areas and conduct a census. Under such circumstances, unplanned and unbudgeted expenditure will increase. will cause economic burden.” The country is currently under an IMF program with very strict conditions.
