ISLAMABAD , April 17, 2023: The issue of allocation of funds for holding elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa became more complicated on Monday as the Standing Committee of the National Assembly sent it back to the parliament.
This was announced by Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha after the meeting of the Standing Committee on Finance.
She said that neither the SBP nor the Finance Divison has the authority to allocate funds from the Federal Consolidated Fund.
She said that the allocation of funds required approval from the parliament. “Without the approval of the parliament, no bill or budget has any legal authenticity.
“Hence, we leave the matter up to the parliament now. The parliament is supreme for us because this is what is written in the Constitution.”
Regarding today meeting, she explained that the SBP can only allocate the money but cannot release it.
The Finance Division can only act on the orders of the federal cabinet. It is up to the cabinet to take the matter to the parliament … if the parliament approves, the funds will be disbursed today, she added.
Standing Committee meeting
Earlier, SBP Acting Governor Sima Kamil on Monday, while briefing the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, said the State Bank of (SBP) has allocated Rs21 billion for elections in the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as directed by the Supreme Court but it has no authority to release the amount.
This Standing Committee met to review the latest situation as the deadline set by the apex court expires today.
The meeting was held with committee Chairman Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh in the chair and attended by Law Minister Senator Azam Nazir Tarar, Trade Minister Syed Naveed Qamar, Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan, Dr. Ramesh Kumar, Ali Pervaiz Malik, Barjees Tahir and others.