Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Sunday robustly defended his administration’s fiscal policies, asserting that the province has achieved wheat self-sufficiency for the first time despite grappling with a Rs344 billion budget deficit and significant revenue shortfalls from the federal government.
In a detailed address to the provincial assembly on his 13th consecutive budget presentation, Shah outlined the province’s financial status, structural reforms, and key expenditures as the fiscal year approaches its June 30 close.
He highlighted a drastic reduction in expected federal transfers, noting that Islamabad had initially promised a National Finance Commission (NFC) share of Rs2,095 billion a year ago. However, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) later revised this figure downward to Rs1,926 billion, creating a baseline shortfall of Rs150 billion. To date, Sindh has received Rs1,750 billion, with Rs176 billion still pending, and final reconciliations are expected by June 30.
Despite these financial constraints and stringent International Monetary Fund (IMF) conditions, the provincial government has managed to retain Rs370 billion in its accounts, Shah claimed.
In a significant development, Sindh utilized a rarely invoked constitutional provision to support the cash-strapped federal government’s defense budget. Under Article 164 of Pakistan’s Constitution, the province transferred Rs260 billion from its reserves to the federation for national defense expenditures.
Shah invoked the vision of martyr Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who foresaw over five decades ago that provinces might need to financially support the federation. While other provinces have shown willingness to reduce the overall NFC formula, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has firmly opposed any structural rollbacks.
Clarifying the PPP’s political position, Shah emphasized that the party is not part of the federal government, which he defined strictly as the prime minister and his cabinet ministers, excluding constitutional offices such as the president or Senate chairman.
Addressing criticisms of the government’s development spending, Shah noted that despite the Rs344 billion deficit, the administration has completed over 1,000 localized schemes and approximately 100 major development projects.
He revealed that more than Rs43 billion had been allocated in targeted subsidies for wheat cultivation, which successfully made Sindh self-sufficient in this staple crop. Additionally, Rs6 billion were allocated to the police force, Rs5.51 billion for Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) vaccine procurement, and over Rs1 billion for supplementary flood relief efforts.
Shah also mentioned Rs4.48 billion provided to victims of the Gul Plaza tragedy, with total subsidies linked to the incident amounting to Rs8 billion. He assured that the inquiry report on the tragedy would be released soon.
Rejecting opposition claims that fuel subsidies for motorcyclists were politically motivated, Shah challenged anyone to prove that a single rupee of these subsidies was misappropriated.
The chief minister highlighted Sindh’s public-private partnership (PPP) framework, under which the Shahrah-e-Bhutto highway was constructed and bridge financing was arranged for the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway. He added that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had requested the Sindh PPP chapter to brief federal authorities with the aim of replicating this model nationwide.
Shah paid tribute to late assembly members, including former speaker Agha Siraj Durrani, Naeem Ahmed Kharal, Nawab Yousuf Talpur, and Aftab Shaban Mirani, acknowledging their lifelong service to the province’s development.
Defending the legislative process against opposition criticism from the previous day, Shah asserted that the Sindh Assembly upholds the highest standards of democratic freedom in the country. He noted that due to severe fiscal constraints, the traditional pre-budget session was omitted this year, but consultations with opposition members continued as usual.
He highlighted record participation in this year’s budget debate, with 143 lawmakers—88 percent of the house—taking part. This engagement rate surpasses that of other provincial legislatures and the National Assembly, where participation rates were below 65 percent.
Shah concluded by emphasizing the Sindh Assembly’s commitment to an open forum for budget discussions, stating that every member is free to speak in any language and that the opposition enjoys equal, if not better, opportunities to express their views compared to the treasury benches.
