Cost of provinces
THE cost would be steep. We all knew that. An Islamabad-based think tank has now put figures to those costs. That gives a fiscal dimension to a debate that has largely been driven by political demands and promises of better administration. The Policy Research Institute of Market Economy estimates that creating two more provinces in Punjab could add Rs47bn to Rs57bn to annual recurring expenditure. The bill could rise to Rs610bn-Rs730bn if all the country’s 30 divisional units were turned into provinces. Every new province would require a permanent administrative and political structure, includ