Bilawal sets allocation of funds for flood victims precondition for budget

• “I was surprised to know that no funds were allocated for flood victims,” says Bilawal.
• Not possible for PPP to vote for budget without flood funds allocation: FM.
• Bilawal says he hopes Finace Minister Dar would soon address his reservations.

Bilawal sets allocation of funds for flood victims precondition for budget ,Tensions are emerging between the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N), key partners in the ruling coalition, regarding the federal budget for 2023-24. Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari publicly criticized the government for the alleged lack of funds allocated to assist the victims of the 2022 floods.

During a public gathering in Swat, Bilawal, who is also the chairman of the PPP, expressed his disappointment that the 2023-24 federal budget presented by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar did not include any provisions for the rehabilitation of the 2022 flood victims. These devastating flash floods, caused by record-breaking monsoon rains, resulted in the loss of over 1,000 lives and affected more than 33 million people, primarily in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan.

Bilawal further stated that a high-level delegation from the PPP had recently approached the prime minister to raise concerns about their limited involvement in the budgetary process. He highlighted that the federal government had previously made commitments to assist the provincial governments in supporting the flood victims. To his surprise, he discovered that no funds had been allocated for any province with regard to flood reconstruction.

In light of these developments, it appears that divisions are deepening within the ruling coalition, specifically between the PPP and the PML-N, concerning the allocation of funds in the federal budget and the government’s response to the needs of the flood-affected population.