Theme/Relevant Ministry:

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

M/o PDSI; M/o Finance; ECNEC; Cabinet Division; Balochistan P&D Board and social sector departments

Project Brief:

Successive governments in Balochistan have failed to streamline the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) despite repeated directions from the High Court and Supreme Court to plan it in an effective manner. This study discusses how political clientelism is influencing the process of PSDP by diverting scarce resources to create incentives for powerful political actors to keep the public dependent and poor. As a result, it is feeding extreme levels of exploitation and corruption in Balochistan. An analysis of the disbursement of PSDP in the 10 districts in last ten years clearly shows some districts with more population and area have been receiving less funds as compared to less populated and smaller districts. To over this inefficiency this research has formulated a mathematical model that estimates the amount to be allocated to each district, where the amount to be allocated to each district is a function of the total PSDP and the weights of population and area for that district. Then to further prioritise the projects of any department a performance matrix is developed. The matrix ranks the public sector development projects. The criteria used in the matrix are the themes obtained from the interviews and focus group discussions with the personnel of the relevant departments. Finally, this study suggests that a single approach for budgeting would make it difficult for government. The government must use a formulaic approach along with a participatory approach for effective PSDP allocation in the clientelistic environment of Balochistan.

Public Policy Relevance:

There is lack of proper evaluation and impact assessment system in the Balochistan province. This research suggests ways that can increase the efficiency of development budget (PSDP/ADP) in Balochistan by providing evidence- based policy input. This research gives policy input that can be aid to distributive justice through matrix budgeting during the allocation of development budget.

Status:
COMPLETED 100%

Final Research Report, Policy Brief and Journal article can be downloaded from the link: https://pide.org.pk/rasta/publications-cgp-1-0/