Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal says government has taken crucial steps to ensure transparency in development projects during challenging times.

Presiding over the annual review meeting of the Public Sector Development Programme 2023-24 in Islamabad today, he said that misuse of the development budget would not be tolerated.

The Minister said that only those projects will be initiated that have a direct positive impact on the lives of the people.

He said that it is the responsibility of ministries and provincial governments to align their development budget demands and project planning with national priorities.

Ahsan Iqbal said that if the government had continued without disruption in 2018, the development budget would have reached 3,000 billion rupees by now. However, due to the current situation, the budget stands at a meager 1,100 billion rupees.