Government should release adequate funds for Public Sector Development Programs (PSDP) for increasing pace of developing infrastructure which would help in escalating economic growth.

Asad Farid, Acting President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has stated this in a statement. He said that Government was adopting tight cash release policy for PSDP which was holding back rapid economic development of the country. He said that Government must release sufficient funds for PSDP which would provide a platform for jobs creation through generation of economic activity.

He was responding to the reports that Government has allocated Rs.290 billion for the PSDP for the year 2011-12 but released only Rs.88.1 billion during first five months of the current fiscal year. He said that limited resources were released for development projects which were the main reason of increasing the unemployment and slowing down of economic growth.

ICCI Acting president said that a substantial increase has been recorded in non-development expenditures since 4 years instead of increasing outlays for development of infrastructure and social sector. He further said that Government should finance development projects rather than providing cover to public sector loss-making entities, which alone was Rs.541 billion during the last fiscal year.

He said that emphasis should be on improving public investments for developing infrastructure. He cited the example of China, India and Sri Lanka, who have kept development projects on priority basis, aimed at addressing poverty alleviation through generating employment opportunities.

Asad Farid said that Government should reform public spending and provide more funds for PSDP in order to execute all sorts of infrastructure projects so that citizens could be provided quality public services necessary for building a modern and efficient economy.