PTI Chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan said on Friday that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would present and pass its budget as a constitutional and legal obligation, rejecting the impression that the move was being made at the request of the federal government.
Speaking to reporters, Gohar said the passage of the provincial budget was solely the responsibility of the provincial government and had no connection with the Centre.
“The provincial budget will be passed, and all lawmakers, including Ali Amin Gandapur, will attend the assembly session,” he said.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is scheduled to present its budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year at 2pm on Friday.
Senior PTI leader Shaukat Yousafzai said Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had initially favoured delaying the budget until a meeting with the PTI founder could take place.
He said one proposal under consideration was to present a three-month budget if legal complications arose, but legal experts advised against the move, warning it would halt provincial development projects and only allow routine expenditures such as salaries and pensions.
Yousafzai said the party ultimately decided to present a full budget to safeguard development work and avoid harming the province.
“The decision has been taken in the broader public interest,” he said, confirming the budget would be presented as scheduled.
Responding to reports of internal differences, Yousafzai said lawmakers with reservations remained committed to the party and were not rebelling against its leadership.
He said all PTI legislators would attend the assembly session, express their concerns during the debate and ultimately vote in favour of the party’s position.
Yousafzai also denied reports of back-channel contacts and maintained there was no legal obstacle preventing meetings with the PTI founder, alleging such meetings were being denied for political reasons.
According to provincial government sources, the proposed budget exceeds Rs2.170 trillion and includes a development programme worth more than Rs519 billion, including Rs150 billion in funding from international donor agencies.
The budget proposes Rs55 billion for local governments, a 7% increase in salaries and pensions for government employees, and the merger of the 2022 and 2025 ad hoc relief allowances.
Sources said the province expects to receive Rs1.443 trillion from the federal government, around Rs105 billion in net hydel profits and approximately Rs180 billion through its own revenue, while more than 900 new development schemes have been proposed.
Yousafzai, however, estimated the overall budget size at around Rs2.2 trillion, with Rs235 billion allocated for development projects.
He said the provincial cabinet was finalising salary increases with the aim of ensuring minimum pay was sufficient to meet basic living expenses amid high inflation.
He added that no new taxes were being imposed and that several existing taxes would instead be reduced, describing the budget as tax-free.
Yousafzai also said the provincial government had decided not to include grant-in-aid payments in the budget as a form of protest, alleging the federal government had failed to provide Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with its due financial share.
He said the budget would be realistic and deficit-based rather than balanced or surplus, with an expected shortfall of around Rs50 billion and spending aligned with actual federal transfers.
Education and health would remain key priorities, while tourism, mines and minerals, water resources and electricity generation would be developed to make the province more self-reliant, he added.
Yousafzai also criticised the federal government for what he described as a lack of cooperation, saying work on National Highway Authority road projects was not progressing and urging Islamabad to support the province’s development.
Separately, former provincial assembly speaker and PTI MPA Mushtaq Ghani told Geo News that a meeting of 35 like-minded PTI lawmakers would be held at 2pm to determine their final strategy on the budget.
He said the chief minister had earlier maintained that the budget would not be presented before a meeting with the PTI founder but had now changed that position.
Ghani questioned how presenting the budget would place pressure on the federal government and claimed no meaningful efforts were being made to facilitate meetings with the PTI founder.