ISLAMABAD: The government has disbursed the entire allocation for small development schemes implemented through members of National Assembly (MNAs) in the first seven months of the current fiscal year.

On the contrary, no releases have been made for special development programmes of the federal government, says a report released by the Planning Commission.

For temporary displaced persons (TDPs) of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and related security expenditure, 60 per cent disbursements have been made.

According to the report, the government allocated Rs20 billion for community development schemes recommended by MNAs under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) The entire amount was disbursed ahead of local government elections.

An amount of Rs100bn was allocated in the federal budget 2015-16 for TDPs and security strengthening in the tribal region. Of the funds, Rs60bn had been released till Feb 4, 2016.Another Rs27 billion was allocated for the special development programme but funds are yet to be released.

On the other hand, only Rs105bn has been released to all federal ministries out of the annual allocation of Rs222.5 billion, accounting for about 47 per cent.

This is significantly less than Rs135bn provided to federal ministries during the first seven months of the last fiscal, which was about 53 per cent of the allocation.

The report shows that work on some road network and power generation projects under the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is making a beginning.

The National Highway Authority, which is responsible for building and maintaining roads and highways, has been given Rs34.57bn of the Rs160bn allocated for the entire fiscal, accounting for a paltry 22 per cent.

The disbursements to the power sector have been better as it has been provided Rs74bn from the Rs114bn allocation, accounting for about 65 per cent.

Under the approved disbursement mechanism, the Planning Commission is required to spend 20 per cent offunds for all sectors in first two quarters of a year each followed by 30 per cent in third and fourth quarter.

The commission`s report has come at a time when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expecting the government to reduce the overall development budget for the current year by about 27 per cent to make up for revenue shortfall and keep the fiscal deficit within limits.