PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced a Rs2.119 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2025-26. The budget proposes a 10% increase in salaries for government employees and a 7% hike in pensions. The provincial minimum wage has also been raised from Rs36,000 to Rs40,000. Provincial Finance Minister Aftab Alam presented the budget, highlighting a Rs157 billion surplus and a strong emphasis on public welfare and economic reforms.
The Annual Development Programme (ADP) has been allocated Rs547 billion, with a record Rs155 billion reserved under the ADP Plus initiative to fast-track key infrastructure projects. To ease the tax burden, proposals include reducing stamp duty from 2% to 1% on property transfers, eliminating professional tax for those earning under Rs36,000 monthly, and waiving fees for electric vehicle registration and token tax.
Police salaries from constables to inspectors are proposed to be aligned with those of Punjab Police. The martyr compensation packages have also been increased, with families of fallen officers to receive up to Rs2.1 crore and residential plots. A major boost in the police budget aims to improve law enforcement in a province long plagued by terrorism and instability.
In health, the Sehat Card Plus scheme has been expanded to include costly treatments such as kidney, liver, and bone marrow transplants. A total of 44 lakh people benefited from the scheme last year. In the education sector, the government has disbursed 3.4 crore textbooks and awarded over 518,000 scholarships, along with launching recruitment for 16,000 new teaching positions.
The province also established a Rs150 billion Debt Management Fund to improve loan repayment and fiscal discipline. Revenue collections by the KP Revenue Authority rose by 19%, while non-tax income surged by 74%. The finance minister credited PTI’s governance, under Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, for turning around a crisis-hit province into a surplus-generating entity, despite reduced federal transfers and economic challenges.