2023–24 Gilgit-Baltistan budget

The 2023–24 Gilgit-Baltistan budget was a tax-free budget passed by the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly on 26 June 2023. A budget meeting was held in Gilgit under the chairmanship of Speaker Nazir Ahmed. The budget was presented by Finance Minister Javed Ali Manwa.

The total size of the budget was more than 116 billion rupees.^[1] This is a significant increase from the previous year's budget of Rs 47 billion, which represents an increase of about 8.5 percent.^[2]

The budget allocation was divided into non-development and development expenditures. 74 billion rupees were allocated for non-developmental expenses while 28.45 billion rupees were allocated for development projects.^[3][4]

51 billion rupees will be spent on employees' salaries. A 35 percent hike in the salaries of government employees up to grade 16 and a 30 percent hike in the salaries of employees in grades 17 to 22 was announced. 13.70 billion was proposed for subsidy on wheat.^[3][1]

The budget included allocations for various sectors:

• Health: More than 1.37 billion rupees have been allocated for the improvement of the health sector.^[1]
• Education: More than Rs 1.57 billion has been allocated for education, including Rs 350 million for the recruitment of teachers.^[1]
• Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries: Rs.45 crore was proposed.^[1]
• Power Sector: Rs 4.17 billion was proposed.^[1]
• Irrigation: More than Rs.24 crore allocated.^[1]
• Physical Planning and Housing: Rs 1.33 billion allocated.^[1]
• Communication Systems: Rs 3.46 billion was allocated.^[1]
• Information Technology (IT): Rs.28.53 crore proposed.^[1]

During the budget session, there was controversy as members of the opposition voiced their concerns, accusing the GB government of not giving due importance to issues in Gilgit-Baltistan within the present budget. Opposition leader Amjad Hussain Azar specifically criticized the GB government, alleging that they were not efficiently utilizing the funds allocated by the federal government and were instead emphasizing their own benefits in the budget. This criticism resulted in a heated argument between the Chief Minister and the opposition leader; however, they both later expressed regret for their comments.^[3][1]