The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has allocated Rs351.1 million for gifts, tea, and entertainment expenses in government offices under its budget for the new fiscal year, according to media reports.
While people in different parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continue to face shortages of healthcare, education, clean drinking water, dilapidated roads, and other basic amenities, the provincial government has allocated hundreds of millions of rupees in the new fiscal year’s budget for entertainment, hospitality, and gifts for government offices.
According to the budget documents, a total of Rs 351.1 million has been allocated for entertainment expenses in government offices. Interestingly, Rs 270 million was allocated for the same purpose in the previous fiscal year. However, by the end of the year, actual spending had risen to Rs 433.6 million, highlighting a significant gap between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure.
The documents further reveal that the Finance Department incurred the highest entertainment and hospitality expenses. During the previous fiscal year, the department alone spent Rs 116.2 million on entertainment and hospitality, the highest amount among all provincial departments.
The largest share of the new allocation has been assigned to the Finance Department, which is set to receive Rs116.2 million. The General Administration Department has been allocated Rs100.5 million, while the Provincial Assembly has been allotted Rs60 million. Together, these three institutions account for nearly 78 per cent of the total entertainment budget.
The Chief Minister’s Secretariat has been allocated Rs18 million for entertainment expenses in the upcoming fiscal year. However, budget documents show that it spent Rs70 million on gifts, tea, and entertainment during the previous fiscal year, far exceeding both its current allocation and the amount initially budgeted.
It is worth mentioning here that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi had recently presented the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2026–27 in the KP Assembly. According to budget documents, the total outlay is Rs2.17 trillion, with an estimated fiscal deficit of Rs48 billion.
Addressing the budget session, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said that their demand was for the PTI founder to receive treatment at the best hospital, for meetings to be restored, and that no grant should be approved until a meeting with Imran Khan is allowed.
The Chief Minister said that the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have trusted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf for the third consecutive term. He praised Muzammil Aslam for effectively managing the province’s finances and expressed gratitude to all the parliamentarians who worked day and night on the budget.
Read more: KP govt unveils Rs2.17 trillion budget for FY 2026–27
