A new squabble but a smart KP budget

The new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa budget for the next financial year seems to be a smartly crafted document that commits to producing a significant surplus of Rs100 billion while proposing a slew of populist and expansionary measures in line with the ruling PTI’s election manifesto.

The estimate of the budgeted provincial receipts of Rs1.75 trillion appears a bit on the ‘higher side’ as some of the revenues, like the sum of nearly Rs158bn booked on account of net hydel profits and windfall levy...