Gilgit: The Gilgit-Baltistan government on Monday presented an interim budget for the first four months of the 2026–27 fiscal year, projecting total available resources of Rs. 158.54 billion while acknowledging that the region’s financial needs far exceed the funds currently available.
The interim budget is intended to keep government departments functioning and ensure the continuity of public services while the newly formed government continues negotiations with Islamabad for additional financial support.
Perhaps the most significant takeaway from the budget is the scale of Gilgit-Baltistan’s dependence on the federal government.
According to the budget speech, the provincial government requested Rs. 258.95 billion from the federal government to meet both development and non-development needs, including wheat subsidies, disaster management and infrastructure development. However, the resources currently available amount to only Rs. 158.54 billion, leaving a funding gap of more than Rs. 100 billion.
The government expressed confidence that ongoing discussions with the federal government would result in additional allocations during the fiscal year.
Of the projected resources, Rs. 88 billion is expected to come through federal non-development grants. The government also anticipates Rs. 1.68 billion in non-tax revenue, Rs. 1.28 billion under the Prime Minister’s flood rehabilitation package, along with additional federal grants and returns on government investments.
The figures once again underline Gilgit-Baltistan’s limited ability to generate its own revenue, making the region heavily reliant on Islamabad to finance both routine government operations and development projects.
For development spending, the government has allocated Rs. 16.97 billion under the Annual Development Programme, with another Rs. 4 billion expected through the Prime Minister’s Special Development Initiatives. These allocations, however, remain dependent on federal support.
Food security continues to consume a substantial portion of public spending. The government has earmarked Rs. 15 billion for the wheat subsidy programme and expects to recover Rs. 3 billion through wheat sales. Even then, it has indicated that further federal assistance will be required to sustain the subsidy.
Current expenditure for the four-month interim period has been estimated at Rs. 20.68 billion. Salaries and allowances account for Rs. 15.23 billion, leaving comparatively modest allocations for public services. The budget sets aside Rs. 300 million for strengthening healthcare services, Rs. 25 million for medicines and Rs. 100 million for the procurement of ambulances.
The budget also reflects the growing financial burden of climate-related disasters. It allocates Rs. 880 million for emergency disaster response, Rs. 770 million to strengthen the Gilgit-Baltistan Disaster Management Authority and Rs. 450 million for emergency response machinery.
Additional allocations include Rs. 430 million for local government institutions and municipal services, Rs. 150 million for the construction and rehabilitation of food warehouses, Rs. 100 million for the Pension Fund, Rs. 200 million for the Group Insurance and Benevolent Fund, and Rs. 250 million for employee welfare initiatives.
A block allocation of Rs. 500 million has also been reserved to deal with unforeseen emergencies and urgent administrative requirements.
While the government reiterated its commitment to improving healthcare, education, tourism, agriculture, energy, employment and infrastructure, the interim budget offers few indications of structural reforms aimed at strengthening Gilgit-Baltistan’s own revenue base or reducing its long-term dependence on federal funding.
Several key spending commitments, including development projects and the wheat subsidy, remain tied to future federal assistance that has yet to be secured.
The budget, therefore, serves less as a comprehensive financial roadmap than as a temporary arrangement to keep government operations running until negotiations with the federal government are concluded.
With the interim budget covering only the first four months of the fiscal year, the government is expected to return to the Assembly later with a full budget once the extent of federal financial support becomes clearer.
For now, the budget reflects a familiar reality: Gilgit-Baltistan’s development ambitions continue to outpace its financial autonomy, leaving the region dependent on federal transfers to meet many of its basic governance and development needs.
