PESHAWAR, June 13: The outgoing financial year’s development expenditure figures separately compiled by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s finance and planning and development departments reflect a cumulative difference of Rs2.5 billion, the relevant officials have said.

The two departments have undertaken an exercise to achieve harmony in their development expenditure figures for the financial year 2011-12, according to senior government officials.

“The planning and development department will reconcile its figures under a routine official practice and bring them in line with the revised ADP figures prepared by the finance department,” said a senior finance manager of the province.

He said the planning department had been provided the expenditure and project details to update its records.

However, a development planner told Dawn on Wednesday that the P&D department had asked the finance department to provide details of the Rs2.5 billion development expenditure that remained unaccounted for with the province’s lead development agency.

“We have asked them to provide the figures and the project details so that we update our records,” said the official.

The difference has apparently taken place after the finance department made financial releases for funding development activities that were carried out outside the ADP’s ambit – as non-ADP schemes.

On June 8, 2012, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government informed the provincial assembly that its revised ADP for the outgoing financial year would be of Rs84.47 billion.

The revised ADP consists of three components, including the provincial ADP of Rs71.58 billion, the special federal programme of Rs5.37 billion and the foreign project assistance of Rs7.5 billion.

The Rs71.58 billion revised provincial ADP for the financial year 2011-12 is up by Rs2.55 billion compared to the Rs69.028 billion provincial ADP for fiscal 2011-12 that the provincial government had got passed from the provincial assembly in June 2011.The P&D department, in spite of being the lead provincial development agency, knew not much until recently that the revised provincial ADP would end up at Rs71.58 billion and not at Rs69 billion – the figure it compiled.

The planning department, according to officials, came to know about its figures being incomplete only recently after the finance department informed it that a total of Rs71.58 billion releases were made to the development projects in the outgoing fiscal for carrying out the provincially funded ADP.

“Though they (finance department authorities) keep informing the P&D department whenever they release funds to the development projects, they do not provide details of all the projects that were released funds,” said a planner.

The Rs2.5 billion difference, according to officials, has occurred because the finance department released funds to a number of development projects that were being executed outside the ADP.

Such schemes, according to sources, are called ‘non-ADP schemes’ and these are executed in line with instructions and special directives by the provincial chief minister.

Since these schemes are executed outside the ADP, the provincial assembly comes to know about them once the revised ADP is presented before it at the end of the financial year.

“It’s a normal practice applied by successive chief ministers,” said a senior finance manager.

Another finance manager said the difference occurred at the P&D department’s end because, during the course of the financial year, the finance department, at times, provided ‘bridge financing’ to ‘facilitate a smooth flow of financial releases to the development projects.’

“We provide them funds from the provincial government’s consolidated account (Account-1) to facilitate an unhindered development process,” said a senior finance manager, adding that “this leaves the P&D with little clue of the total funds disbursed to it.”

The official said the P&D department was provided the Rs2.5 billion expenditure details on June 8, 2012 after the provincial cabinet meeting that passed the provincial budget for the new financial year.

“The provincial government could spend more from its pocket on development projects during the outgoing financial year after it managed to raise a greater amount of funds for the development activities,” said a finance department official.

The official said the re-appropriation of funds could be done in line with the ‘Delegation of Powers under the Financial Rules and Powers of Re-Appropriation Rules-2001.’