Balochistan Finance Minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani presents the provincial budget for fiscal year 2026-27 in the Balochistan Assembly on Wednesday. Photo: NNI
The Balochistan government on Wednesday unveiled a budget of Rs 1,089 trillion for the fiscal year 2026-27, setting aside Rs 206 billion for development spending, announcing the creation of 5,000 government jobs and projecting Rs 771 billion in transfers under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.
The provincial cabinet, chaired 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 amounts to Rs 1,089 trillion, including Rs 797 billion for non-development expenditure and Rs 206 billion for the Provincial Public Sector Development Program (PSDP). Of the development allocation, Rs 106 billion has been earmarked for new schemes, while Rs 100 billion has been set aside for completion of ongoing projects.
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The province will also receive Rp45 billion in federally funded development projects and Rp40 billion in foreign project assistance to support investment in infrastructure, education, healthcare, water supply, communications, agriculture and energy.
The government has set a provincial revenue target of Rs 170 billion for the next fiscal year, citing tax reforms, better fiscal discipline and efficient utilization of resources to achieve the target.
Chief Minister Bugti described the budget as “balanced, realistic and people-friendly”, saying the government had prioritized public welfare, sustainable development, employment generation and improvement of basic services despite limited resources.
He said health, education, clean water, infrastructure and employment remained the government’s top development priorities.
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 in various provincial departments.
He also announced that Balochistan would receive Rs 771 billion under the NFC award during the new fiscal year, attributing the increase to better revenue collection by the Federal Board of Revenue.
The minister said NFC transfers would strengthen provincial finances and support development initiatives across the province.
Highlighting the tax reforms, Nosherwani said the government would implement the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system to consolidate funds of the government and autonomous institutions, a move aimed at improving transparency, financial management and accountability.
He said the province had collected a record Rs 130 billion in revenue during the previous fiscal year and announced new initiatives to improve revenue generation, including statutory assessment gap and income assessment gap surveys to identify untapped sources of tax and non-tax revenue.
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According to the finance minister, the Balochistan Revenue Authority contributed Rs 59.8 billion to the provincial revenue during the last fiscal year, followed by the Department of Energy Rs 36.9 billion, the Department of Minerals and Mineral Resources Rs 21.1 billion, the Board of Revenue Rs 8.4 billion and the Excise Department Rs 4 billion.
The government allocated Rs 96 billion to the health sector, including Rs 90 billion in non-development expenditure and Rs 6 billion in the development budget.
Nosherwani said the allocations also included Rs 7.7 billion for the Balochistan Health Card, PPHI programmes, medicines, trauma centres, Sheikh Zayed bin Nahyan Hospital and nutrition initiatives.
The budget increases the Balochistan Health Card allocation from Rs 4.5 billion to Rs 6 billion, increases the PPHI subsidy from Rs 7.6 billion to Rs 8.8 billion and increases the budget for medicines by 23 percent from Rs 6.9 billion to Rs 8.5 billion.
The finance minister also announced 11 new initiatives, including a public-private insurance scheme through Bolan Insurance Company Limited, Rs 3.8 billion for tubewell solarization, Rs 10 billion for the establishment of Bank of Balochistan and Rs 3 billion for the proposed Balochistan Aviation Company.
Other measures include Rs 490 million to promote mineral resources and investment opportunities, Rs 85 million for heritage and archaeological projects, establishment of e-commerce hubs and a third-party validation mechanism for development plans.
