CM Afridi vows peace in FY27 as KP Assembly passes Rs2.17tr budget

Wire excerpt

PESHAWAR: As the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly on Wednesday passed an Rs2.17 trillion budget for the fiscal year 2026-27 (FY27), bulldozing the cut motions and approving grants of all the departments, Chief Minister Sohail Afridi said the coming fiscal year will be one of peace, prosperity and development for the province. The FY27 budget for KP was presented on June 20, with CM Afridi saying that the provincial government would not give any grants to the federal government, and that any decision on providing additional funds to the Centre would be made by PTI founder Imran Khan. “We cannot develop unless there is peace, and this is why we have enhanced the budget for police to Rs40 billion in order to equip them, develop infrastructure, enhance capacity and remove all shortcomings,” the chief minister said today while addressing lawmakers in the KP Assembly. The chief minister, during the session chaired by KP Assembly Speaker Babar Saleem Swati, stated that Peshawar, which was the provincial capital and gave an “overwhelming majority” to the PTI, was allocated the second-largest amount in the budget. CM Afridi stated that with almost Rs100 billion extra, the throw forward w…