Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani presents the provincial budget for the financial year 2026-27 in the Balochistan Assembly on Wednesday. Photo: NNI
The Balochistan government on Wednesday unveiled a Rs1.089 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2026-27, allocating Rs206 billion for development expenditure, announcing the creation of 5,000 government jobs and projecting Rs771 billion in transfers under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
The provincial cabinet, headed by chief minister Mir Sarfraz Bugti, unanimously approved the budget before provincial finance minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani presented it in the Balochistan Assembly.
The total budget outlay is 1,089 tr., including 797 billion for non-development expenses and DKK 206 billion. to the Provincial Public Sector Development Program (PSDP). Of the development grant, DKK 106 billion is DKK earmarked for new schemes, while DKK 100 billion DKK is reserved for the implementation of ongoing projects.
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The province will also receive Rs45b under federally funded development projects and Rs40b in foreign project assistance to support investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare, water supply, communications, agriculture and energy.
The government has set a provincial revenue target of Rs170b for the coming financial year, citing tax reforms, improved tax discipline and efficient resource utilization to achieve the target.
Describing the budget as “balanced, realistic and people-friendly”, Chief Minister Bugti said the government had prioritized public welfare, sustainable development, job creation and improved basic services despite limited resources.
He said health, education, clean drinking water, infrastructure and employment remained the government’s top development priorities.
While presenting the budget, Finance Minister Nosherwani announced the creation of 5,000 new government jobs, including 3,000 positions in school and university education, 500 in the health department, 1,000 in newly created districts and another 500 across various provincial departments.
He also announced that Balochistan would receive Rs771b under the NFC Award during the new financial year, attributing the increase to improved revenue collection by the Federal Board of Revenue.
The minister said the NFC transfers would strengthen the province’s finances and support development initiatives across the province.
Highlighting fiscal reforms, Nosherwani said the government would implement the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system to consolidate funds from the government and autonomous institutions, a move aimed at improving transparency, financial management and accountability.
He said the province had collected a record revenue of Sh130 billion. Rs. during the previous financial year and announced additional initiatives to increase revenue generation, including legal assessment gap and revenue assessment gap studies to identify untapped tax and non-tax revenue sources.
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According to the finance minister, the Balochistan Revenue Authority contributed 59.8 billion. Rs. to provincial revenues during the last financial year, followed by the energy department with 36.9 billion. Rs., the Department of Minerals and Minerals with 21.1 billion. Rs., the Board of Revenue with 8.4 billion. Rs.
The government allocated Rs96b for the health sector, including Rs90b in non-development expenditure and Rs6b under the development budget.
Nosherwani said the allocations also included Rs7.7 billion. for Balochistan Health Card, PPHI programmes, medicine, trauma centres, Sheikh Zayed bin Nahyan Hospital and nutrition initiatives.
The budget increases the Balochistan Health Card allocation from Rs4.5b to Rs6b, raises the PPHI grant from Rs7.6b to Rs8.8b and increases the medicine budget by 23 percent from Rs6.9b to Rs8.5b.
The finance minister also announced 11 new initiatives, including a public-private insurance scheme through Bolan Insurance Company Limited, Rs3.8b for solarisation of tube wells, Rs10b for establishment of Bank of Balochistan and Rs3b for the proposed Balochistan Aviation Company.
Other measures include Rs490m for promotion of mineral resources and investment opportunities, Rs85m for heritage and archeology projects, establishment of e-commerce centers and a third-party validation mechanism for development schemes.
