Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi on Friday said that the province would withhold grants for the federal government until authorities allowed meetings with jailed PTI founder Imran Khan.
The KP chief minister made the remarks during his budget speech, presenting the provincial budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 with an outlay of Rs2.17 trillion and a projected deficit of Rs48 billion.
“Until meetings are restored, no grant will be filed,” he said, adding that the provincial government’s demand was for the PTI founder to receive treatment at the best hospital and for meetings with him to be resumed.
The chief minister said that 92 members of the provincial assembly had collectively decided to present the budget and thanked parliamentarians for working day and night on the financial plan.
PTI Secretary General Barrister Salman Akram Raja had previously said that the KP government would approve only a three-month budget paper if a meeting with the jailed PTI founder does not take place before June 30.
Speaking to the media on June 16, Raja said the final budget would not be presented until consultation with the former prime minister had taken place.
Khan has been jailed since August 2023 after convictions he and his PTI call politically motivated.
Since his 2022 ouster in a no-confidence vote, he has faced multiple cases, including over state gifts and an unlawful marriage. Some convictions have been suspended or overturned, with appeals pending. He denies wrongdoing.
Later, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that only Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif could decide on the demand to allow a meeting with Khan before contributing funds to the federal government.
Speaking on Geo News programme ‘Capital Talk’, the finance minister said that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government had no objection “in principle” to cutting development spending to release funds to the Centre.
CM Afridi is presenting the budget after an Opposition delegation led by PTI’s Asad Qaiser met FinMin Aurangzeb in Islamabad to discuss budget-related concerns.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Qaiser said that the PTI delegation discussed issues related to erstwhile FATA/PATA with the government delegation.
He added that political matters were not discussed during the meeting, but said the opposition was ready for a “Charter of Democracy”.
KP proposes 7% increase in salaries, pensions
Presenting the budget, CM Afridi said that Rs524 billion has been proposed for the Annual Development Programme (ADP), while Rs1.64 trillion has been earmarked for current expenditures.
An allocation of Rs35 billion has been proposed for the merged tribal districts, reflecting continued focus on their development integration.
The government has proposed a 7% increase in salaries and pensions of government employees, along with an increase of Rs5,000 in the minimum monthly wage, raising it to Rs45,000.
For law and order, Rs191 billion has been proposed, while Rs200 million has been allocated for the Good Governance Roadmap initiative.
Sector-wise allocations include Rs334 billion for health, Rs468 billion for education, Rs90 billion for local government, Rs29 billion for home affairs, Rs14 billion for transport, Rs29 billion for agriculture, Rs42 billion for energy, and Rs28 billion for the Zakat Fund.
Under social protection initiatives, Rs15 billion has been proposed for the Ehsaas Mustahiq Programme, Rs50 billion for the Health Card Programme, Rs2 billion for the Ehsaas Kisan Programme, and another Rs2 billion for interest-free loans to facilitate overseas employment seekers.
Additionally, Rs51 million has been allocated for self-reliance initiatives for minority communities.
For health infrastructure, Rs80 billion has been proposed for MTI hospitals across the province.
In the development sector, Rs36 billion has been allocated for the Peshawar Revival Programme, Rs7.5 billion for the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, and Rs4 billion for the Khushhal Hazara Programme.
The provincial government has also proposed Rs2.5 billion for electric bikes and rickshaw schemes to promote eco-friendly transport.
The KP chief minister said that revenue performance had shown improvement, with Rs102 billion collected in the first 10 months of FY2025–26, including Rs69.7 billion in tax revenue and Rs32.3 billion in non-tax revenue.
The KP Revenue Authority contributed Rs43.69 billion, and the province was expected to achieve its Rs129 billion annual target.
CM Afridi said that the police budget had been significantly increased, rising from Rs67 billion in 2022-23 to Rs191.39 billion for the financial year 2026-27, marking an increase of 185%.
In FY2026-27, Rs14.5 billion have been earmarked for the police procurement plan, out of which Rs7.7 billion have been allocated for modern weapons and ammunition.
For bullet proof vehicles and purchase of troops carriers, Rs1.81 billion has been allocated, while thermal cameras and anti-drones system, jammers would be purchased with an allocation of Rs1.27 billion.
Similarly, Rs7.9 billion have been allocated for monthly operational support of police, while Rs1.78 billion for establishment of safe city in district Upper and Lower South Waziristan, Orakzai and Kurram and Rs1.6 billion for district Khyber, Mohmand and Bajaur.
CM Afridi said that the merger of adhoc relief of 2023 and 2025 in basic pay has also been proposed in the budget, besides the introduction of house requisition allowance for employees of the secretariat to addressing their accommodation problems.
He also announced a 50% increase in conveyance allowance and an increase of special allowance from Rs6,000 to Rs10,000.
