Ministries told to surrender unspent funds

The instructions have been issued to ensure that revised estimates for FY2025-26 are finalised and budget estimates for the upcoming fiscal year (FY2026-27) are firmed up in a timely manner. In a communication, the MoF directed all principal accounting officers (PAOs) to “surrender anticipated savings” under all four major expenditure heads to the Finance Division by May 10. They have also been instructed not only to issue ‘surrender orders’ but also to communicate the surrendered amounts to the Budget Section of the MoF by the same date for entry into the computer system. These heads include: (i) running of the civil government — both employee-related expenditures (ERE) and non-ERE, (ii) grants, (iii) subsidies, and (iv) development funds under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). It may be noted that, under Section 12 of the PFM Act, 2019, all ministries and divisions are required to surrender savings to the Finance Division by May 31 each year. The MoF said the deadline had been advanced by nearly a month on the directives of Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to improve fiscal prudence and ensure the timely surrender of savings so that funds can be made available where required. The PSDP has already been cut by Rs173 billion (about 20 per cent of the budgeted allocation) to transfer funds to the Prime Minister’s fund for fuel subsidies following rising petroleum prices in the wake of the US-Israel war on Iran. The PSDP has already been facing challenging conditions, as federal entities spent less than half of their budget allocat