FAQIR HUSAIN
PESHAWAR
The overall volume of the Pension and Hydel funds has been decreasing due to traditional approaches and guidelines induced by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government.
According to sources, following the KP government directions, the finance department released Rs40 out of Rs45 billion from HDF to the Energy and Power sector. Interestingly, the volume of funds was reduced but no income was made from the Energy and Power sector.
The KP government has spent Rs6 billion during the last financial year from the pension fund, additionally the government proposed to spend more Rs10 billion from the fund in the ongoing financial year.
The successive governments in the province would deposit three to four billion annually in the pension fund.
However, the incumbent government did not provide any capital to the pension fund owing to financial crises being faced by the KP government.
The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) in its report 2018-19 has also pinpointed the issues of pension fund, GP fund, and hydel fund.
“During audit of the Financial Statements of the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for Financial Year 2018-19, it was observed that the financial statement did not give any details about the investment made till date in GPF Investment Fund, Pension Investment Fund and Hydel Development Fund, ” the report added.
In 2017, the provincial government established an investment cell in the finance department for the modernization of GP Fund Pension Fund and HDF investments.
Moreover, a fund manager was also hired from the private sector for a period of three years at a monthly salary of Rs 1.5 million to manage the overall affairs of the cell.
After completion of the three-year tenure an extension of three years was also given to the manager but the incumbent finance minister developed differences with the fund manager over the modes of investment and other issues.
Sources said that the manager finally resigned from the post and since the post is laying vacant as the provincial government failed to appoint a new manager for the management of the fund.
Currently, the Investment Cell is being handled by the official of the finance department.
When contacted Timur Saleem Jhagra, provincial minister for health and finance, he was not available for the comments over the issue.
