PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, accusing the federal government of a “persistent failure” to release constitutionally guaranteed funds and demanding the “full and unconditional” payment of all outstanding federal dues to the province.
Since assuming office in October last year, Afridi has repeatedly alleged that the Centre has delayed the release of funds allocated for KP, particularly those meant for the merged districts under the National Finance Commission (NFC).
In his letter, the chief minister said he was compelled to place on record the “deep and mounting concern” of the KP government over the continued withholding of federal transfers, warning that the situation had triggered an acute fiscal and governance crisis in the province.
Afridi said the KP budget for fiscal year 2025-26 was framed strictly in line with constitutional entitlements, including net hydel profit, oil and gas royalties, post-merger NFC shares and regular monthly NFC releases. “These were not discretionary assumptions but binding fiscal obligations,” he stressed, adding that actual releases had consistently fallen short of budgeted levels.
Of particular concern, he said, was the withholding of routine monthly NFC transfers, a practice that “finds no sanction in the Constitution and strikes at the core of cooperative federalism”.
According to the chief minister, KP was entitled to receive Rs658.4 billion under the NFC but had so far received only Rs604bn, resulting in a shortfall of Rs54.4bn. He said the gap had directly impaired cash management, disrupted budget execution and constrained service delivery in key sectors.
Afridi said the impact was most severe in the merged districts, where development and stabilisation were national priorities. Despite a provincial allocation of Rs292bn, federal releases stood at just Rs56bn, he said, undermining essential public services and weakening the objectives of the merger.
He added that the fiscal strain came at a time when KP remained on the frontline of counter-terrorism operations and was also bearing extraordinary costs related to flood response, rehabilitation and the management of temporarily displaced persons.
“These are national responsibilities, yet the financial burden continues to be borne disproportionately by the province,” he said.
Calling for immediate corrective action, the KP CM urged the federal government to release all outstanding dues, including monthly NFC transfers, net hydel profit, oil and gas royalties and funds for the merged districts, in line with constitutional provisions.
Any further delay, he warned, would compound fiscal stress and weaken governance capacity, urging the prime minister to take up the matter with “urgent and personal attention”.
